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SWOOPS TO CONQUER PARIS AIR SHOW NEWS BOEING T-X - BREAKING THE MOULD? AI AND LEGAL LIABILITY - Royal ...
August 2019
AEROSPACE

                                                          PARIS AIR SHOW NEWS
                                                          BOEING T-X – BREAKING
                                                          THE MOULD?
                                                          AI AND LEGAL LIABILITY

                             www.aerosociety.com

                               SWOOPS TO
August 2019

                               CONQUER
Volume 46 Number 8

                               AIRBUS UK IMAGINES THE
                               FUTURE OF AIRLINERS WITH
                               ITS HYBRID BIRD OF PREY
Royal Aeronautical Society
SWOOPS TO CONQUER PARIS AIR SHOW NEWS BOEING T-X - BREAKING THE MOULD? AI AND LEGAL LIABILITY - Royal ...
EXPERT FORUM
MODERATOR: DR. RAFAEL RAMIREZ, DIRECTOR, OXFORD SCENARIOS PROGRAM

On 14-15 November 2019, the world’s aviation industry leaders will gather at the London home
    of the Royal Aeronautical Society for a forum on the global megatrends and their
               importance to our industry.
                        WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND?
                              The objective of the forum is to develop a plausible
                                 investigation of these potentially disruptive trends and to
                                    co-create a shared vision of the future. Senior Aviation
                                       Executives with a strategic perspective will want
                                         their voices to be heard in this important dialogue.

                                                                 14 –15
                                                       NOVEMBER 2019
                                                    NO.4 HAMILTON PLACE,
                                                           LONDON
                                                            Registration
                                                               Non-member
                                                            £1450.00 + VAT
                                                RAeS Corporate Partner or Member
                                                            £1200.00 + VAT
                                                 www.aerosociety.com/megatrends
                                                         Please contact
                                                  conferences@aerosociety.com
                                           to register your interest to attend the forum
SWOOPS TO CONQUER PARIS AIR SHOW NEWS BOEING T-X - BREAKING THE MOULD? AI AND LEGAL LIABILITY - Royal ...
Volume 46 Number 8                                                                                       Inspiration nation                                                               Plane speaking

                                                                                                                                                                                UK Govt
                                                                                                Airbus
August 2019                                                                                              Airbus reveals the                                                               An interview with
                                                                  14                                     revolutionary Bird of
                                                                                                         Prey hybrid-electric
                                                                                                                                           36
                                                                                                                                                                                          the UK’s new
                                                                                                                                                                                          Minister of Aviation.
                                                                                                         passenger aircraft                                                               Baroness Vere of
                                                                                                         concept designed in                                                              Norbiton.
                                                                                                         the UK.

Contents
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.

  The green challenge for aviation                                                                                                    10 Antenna
                                                                                                                                                                            62 The Last Word
                                                                                                                                                                            Keith Hayward looks at
                                                                                                                                                                            the development of the
                                                                                                                                      Howard Wheeldon reviews
  The past half century or so has been a triumph for the democratisation of                                                           nations currently seeking to          European guided weapon
                                                                                                                                      upgrade their air forces with         sector.
  air travel – opening up foreign countries and experiences and stimulating                                                           the latest generation jets.
  trade and tourism. Yet, there is an underlying sense that, at least in the
  Western hemisphere, the tide may be beginning to turn against unrestricted
  growth in air travel – much of it connected to the growing sense of
                                                                                                                                      Features
  environmental crisis. But what might have been dismissed in previous
  decades as just ‘typical students’ or the ‘usual green protesters’ now
  seems to be gathering momentum in other parts of society. The ‘flight-                                                           20                                      28
  shaming’ eco-movement is spreading from Sweden’s middle classes to
  other countries – encouraging people to take other forms of transport or
  not travel at all. Another aspect, perhaps underappreciated, is that, while
                                                                                                                                 Boeing
  electric cars, e-bikes, recharging stations and zero-emission vehicles have
  proliferated in cities – aviation’s reliance on kerosene has become more                                                            Breaking the mould?
                                                                                                                                      Is Boeing’s new T-X military         Paris electrifies
  and more visible. This is despite the fact that aviation has developed more                                                                                              A report on the sales
                                                                                                                                      trainer revolutionary or
  fuel-efficient and quieter aeroplanes which are a far cry from the polluting,                                                       evolutionary?                        announcements, aerospace
  noisy aircraft of 50 years ago. Indeed, aviation has been long aware of                                                                                                  news, latest aircraft and new
                                                                                                                                                                           technology on display at the
  these challenges and is already signed up to tough sustainable aviation                                                                                                  2019 Paris Air Show.
  targets such as ACARE 2050. Yet there is a sense that this message is not
  getting through and that incremental improvements are too slow for today’s                                                          24
  environmentally conscious consumers. It is no longer business as usual.                                                                                                                                     40
  Radical ideas, such as Airbus UK’s Bird of Prey (see p 14) – which could
  offer up to a staggering 50% cut in fuel burn – are thus likely to be the

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    RAeS/NAL
  only way in which aviation can square passengers’ growing concern for the
  environment with guilt-free freedom to travel by air.

  Tim Robinson, Editor-in-Chief                                                                                                                                             The birth of air travel
                                                                                                                                                                            When the first international
                                                                                                                                      It’s the Robot’s Fault!               passenger flight took off from
          tim.robinson@aerosociety.com                                                                                                How the rise of artificial            London to Paris August 1919,
                                                                                                                                      intelligence may affect               there was still debate over
                                                                                                                                      liability and risk in the             whether the future of flight lay
NEWS IN BRIEF                                                                                                                         aerospace sector.                     with aircraft or airships.

  Editor-in-Chief                             Editorial Office                           Printed by Buxton Press Limited,
  Tim Robinson                                Royal Aeronautical Society                 Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire
  +44 (0)20 7670 4353
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                                                                                         Distributed by Royal Mail                   45 Afterburner
  Deputy Editor                                                                          2019 AEROSPACE subscription
                                              publications@aerosociety.com
  Bill Read                                                                              rates: Non-members, £170                     46 Message from our President
                                              www.aerosociety.com
  +44 (0)20 7670 4351                                                                    Please send your order to:
  bill.read@aerosociety.com                   AEROSPACE is published by the Royal
                                                                                         Wayne J Davis, RAeS, No.4 Hamilton           47 Message from our Chief Executive
                                              Aeronautical Society (RAeS).
  Production Manager
                                              Chief Executive
                                                                                         Place, London W1J 7BQ, UK.                   48 Book Reviews
  Wayne J Davis                                                                          +44 (0)20 7670 4354
                                                                                                                                      51 Library Additions
                                                                                                                                                                                     Online
  +44 (0)20 7670 4354                         Sir Brian Burridge CBE FRAeS               aerosubs@aerosociety.com
  wayne.davis@aerosociety.com                 Advertising                                Any member not requiring a print
                                              +44 (0)20 7670 4346
                                                                                                                                      52 Obituaries
  Publications Co-ordinator                                                              version of this magazine, please
  Chris Male
                                              partners@aerosociety.com                   contact: membership@aerosociety.com          54 H SA1011 project                  Additional features and content are
  +44 (0)20 7670 4352                         Unless specifically attributed, no         USA: Periodical postage paid at              55 Women and aviation                    available to view online on
  chris.male@aerosociety.com                  material in AEROSPACE shall be taken       Champlain New York and additional               in Pakistan                       www.aerosociety.com/aerospaceinsight
                                              to represent the opinion of the RAeS.      offices.
  Publications Executive                                                                                                              56 Diary                                                 Including:
  Annabel Hallam                              Reproduction of material used in this      Postmaster: Send address changes                                                   Walking on the Moon again, Getting the balance
  +44 (0)20 7670 4361                         publication is not permitted without the   to IMS of New York, PO Box 1518,             57 Sir Michael Marshall             right, Shapeshifting supersonic airliner, Apollo 11
  annabel.hallam@aerosociety.com              written consent of the Editor-in-Chief.    Champlain NY 12919-1518, USA.                   Lecture competition               on the big screen, RAeS flies the flag for diversity,
                                                                                                                                      58 Blue Streak and other                In the July issue of AEROSPACE, Flight to
  Book Review Editor                                                                     ISSN 2052-451X
  Brian Riddle                                                                                                                           launch vehicles                            aftermarket profits, Five blogs on
  brian.riddle@aerosociety.com                                                                                                        60 Elections                                 news from the 2019 Paris Air Show.

  Front cover: Airbus’ Bird of Prey hybrid-electric airline concept. (Airbus)

     @aerosociety             i   Find us on LinkedIn     f    Find us on Facebook             www.aerosociety.com                                                                              AUGUST 2019                    13
SWOOPS TO CONQUER PARIS AIR SHOW NEWS BOEING T-X - BREAKING THE MOULD? AI AND LEGAL LIABILITY - Royal ...
Radome
          INTELLIGENCE / ANALYSIS / COMMENT
                                                        Safety fast
                                                        As well as the F1-style carbon monocoque
                                                        chassis to provide crash protection for the
                                                        pilot, the Airspeeder Mk4 also features
                                                        advanced safety features, including an
                                                        augmented reality (AR) display for the pilot
                                                        and LIDAR-based anti-collision sensors.

          Prop power
          The Airspeeder Mk4 is powered by eight 50Kw
          electric motors which drive eight 60in two-
          bladed propellers.

                                                        Battery swaps
                                                        The Airspeeder Mk4 features 500Kw
                                                        swappable battery packs, which provide
                                                        enough charge for 15mins of flying time. The
                                                        creators envisage races of 30mins with a
                                                        ‘pitstop’ to swap batteries.

                                                                                                                      W

  4       AEROSPACE / AUGUST 2019

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Race days
                                                                                    The Airspeeder Grand Prix, set to begin in
                                                                                    2020, will see five teams of ten pilots racing
                                                                                    four metres above the ground at motorsport
                                                                                    circuits and global landmarks.

                                                                                                               Airspeeder Mk4
                                                                                                               specifications
                                                                                                               Pilot		            1
                                                                                                               Top speed		        200km/h
                                                                                                               Weight			250kg
                                                                                                               Racing altitude 		 4m

W
          GENERAL AVIATION

          Flying car air racing
          Launched at the UK's Goodwood Festival of Speed in July was Airspeeder − an aerial racing
          championship for piloted electric quadcopters, able to fly up to 200km/h and with a greater
          power to weight ratio than a F1 car or jet fighter. The new air sport for ‘flying car’ eVTOLs
          is the creation of Australian start-up Alauda Racing, which has already been testing an
          unpiloted three quarter scale version of the Airspeeder. The Airspeeder Mk4 (pictured above)
          is planned to fly in the Airspeeder Grand Prix series, set to begin in 2020. Flight testing of the
                                                                                                                                                   Airspeeder

          piloted version is set to begin in Mojave later this year.

               @aerosociety     i   Find us on LinkedIn   f   Find us on Facebook       www.aerosociety.com                             AUGUST 2019
                                                                                                                                                                5
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Radome
                      GENERAL AVIATION                                              AIR TRANSPORT
                      Gulfstream G600                                               BA fined £183m in data breach
                      receives certification
                      On 28 June the US              control sidesticks. The
                      Federal Aviation               Pratt & Whitney Canada
                      Administration (FAA)           PW800-powered aircraft
                      awarded both type                    racked up some
                      and production                           3,200hr of
                                                           Gu

                      certificates to                            airborne flight
                                                             lf s t r

                      Gulfstream's                                testing and
                                                               eam

                                                                                                                                                                                                     Airbus
                      newest                                      100,000hr of
                      product, the                                ground based      British Airways has been hit with a record £183m fine after criminal hackers managed to
                      G600 business                             simulation,         breach its IT systems and steal 500,000 customers’ personal data that was revealed in
                      jet. Launched in                        says Gulfstream.      September 2018. The fine, imposed by the UK Information Commissioners Office (ICO),
                      2014, the 6,500nm                 First deliveries to         is the largest to be handed out and the first to be publicly announced under new rules
                      range G600 features the        customers are expected         following the introduction of GDPR. The fine, 1.5% of BA’s 2017 turnover, is still less
                      touchscreen Symmetry           to commence later this         than the 4% maximum punishment that could be imposed. BA has 28 days to appeal the
                      Flight Deck and active         year.                          fine.

                      DEFENCE                                                                                                           AEROSPACE
                      As AEROSPACE goes to press, Sweden and the UK have signed a memorandum of                                         China to develop
                      understanding to strengthen and deepen co-operation on future combat air systems.
                      The ten year MoU will not see Saab, join the UK Team Tempest                                                      passenger SST
                      industrial consortium at the moment but FCAS work will                                                            According to Chinese          supersonic passenger
                      continue in parallel.                                                                                             state media, the country is   airliner’ was one of 20 key
                                                                                                                                        aiming to launch its own      national technical goals
                                                                                                                                        indigenously developed        revealed at the annual
                                                                                                                                        supersonic airliner in        meeting of the China
                                                                                                                                        the 2035 timeframe.           Association of Science
                                                                                                                                        The design of a ‘green        and Technology.
                                                                                                                  Chinese state media

                       Sweden partners
        BAE Systems

                       with UK on future combat air
                      NEWS IN BRIEF
                                                     The incident occurred on       the aging CC-155 Buffalo                            range at Edwards Air Force    Namibia, Malawi, Ethiopia,
                      Boeing’s airliner deliveries   30 June when a body            and CC-130Hs in the                                 Base in California.           Zanzibar, Tanzania and
                      for the first six months of    was found in a garden in       RCAF SAR role, will be                                                            Uganda.
                      this year 2019 fell by 37%     Clapham.                       delivered later this year.                          A kit-build light aircraft
                      from 378 in 1H 2018 to                                                                                            built by South African high   NASA and the FAA
                      239 in 1H 2019. The main       Airbus has flown the first     Virgin Orbit has                                    school students has flown     have conducted a
                      reason for the fall was a      prototype of its modified      successfully conducted                              6,500nm from Cape Town,       crashworthiness test
                      reduction in 737 deliveries    twin-engine C-295 tactical     a drop test of a full-scale                         to Egypt. The Airplane        involving dropping a
                      which fell from 269 to 113.    transport for the Royal        model of its LauncherOne                            Company Sling 4 kitplane      Fokker F28 regional jet
                                                     Canadian Air Force’s Fixed     small satellite launcher.                           was assembled in three        from a gantry 150ft in
                      A suspected stowaway           Wing Search and Rescue         The launcher, which was                             weeks by 20 students and      the air. The aircraft, which
                      was killed after falling       (FWSAR) programme.             filled with water and                               then flown in stages by six   was acquired by NASA
                      from the landing gear          The first flight took place    antifreeze instead of fuel,                         of the students who had       from Canadian Regional
                      well of a Kenya Airways’       on 4 July from Airbus’         was dropped from a pylon                            qualified as pilots under     Airlines in 2000, was
                      flight from Nairobi while      Seville factory in Spain.      on the wing of the ‘Cosmic                          the name of the U-Dream       populated with 24 crash
                      it was flying over London      The first C-295 of 16          Girl’ modified Boeing 747                           Global project. The journey   dummies designed to
                      towards Heathrow Airport.      aircraft, which will replace   on 10 July above a test                             to Egypt included stops in    simulate a range of adults

  6                   AEROSPACE / AUGUST 2019

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Dragon

           SPACEFLIGHT                                                                                                      DEFENCE
                                              Japanese probe lands                                                          First S400 SAMs
                                              on asteroid − again                                                           delivered to Turkey
                                                                                                                            On 12 July, the first           flown in to an airbase
                                                                                                                            elements of a Russian-          near Ankara, where the
                                                                                                                            built long-range S400 e Ministry S400 missile system
                                                                                                                                                          c
                                                                                                                                                       en
                                                                                                                            surface-to-air        D
                                                                                                                                                    ef             will reportedly

                                                                                                                                               is h
                                                                                                                            missile battery                           be deployed.

                                                                                                                                              Turk
                                                                                                                            began arriving                            Meanwhile,
                                                                                                                            in Turkey, in                             the US has
                                                                                                                            defiance of US                            previously
                                                                                                                            protests over the                       warned that taking
        JAXA

                                                                                                                            NATO member and                      delivery of this SAM
           On 11 July the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that its                                      F-35 partner accquiring         would be a ‘red line’ and
           unmanned spacecraft Hayabusa 2 has landed for a second time on the Ryugu asteroid                                this system from Moscow.        would see Turkey removed
           185million miles from Earth. The probe made a brief touchdown in February when it fired                          The first components were       from the F-35 programme.
           a 5g ‘impactor’ pellet to stir up dust for collecting before
           returning to a holding position above the surface.
           The aim of the mission is to collect pristine materials from
                                                                                             AEROSPACE
           beneath the surface of the asteroid which could provide      US electric-aircraft startup, Zunum Aero has run out of funding and virtually ceased
           insights into what the solar system was like at its birth    operations, according to news reports. The company was developing a nine-passenger
           4.6bn years ago. Hayabusa 2 is due to return to Earth in     hybrid-electric regional aircraft. Boeing's Horizon X venture capital arm, JetBlue and
           2020.                                                        the State of Washington had all invested money into the programme.

           AIR TRANSPORT
           Singapore, Malaysia
           Airlines deepen ties
           Flag carriers Singapore            partnership areas between
           Airlines and Malaysia Airlines     the two airlines include
           have signed a memorandum           cargo, maintenance and
           of understanding to extend
           their codesharing agreement
                                              expansion of code-sharing
                                              beyond Singapore-                                                                        Zunum pulls plug
                                                                                Zunum Aero

           and co-operation.
           Potential strategic
                                              Malaysia and frequent flyer
                                              programme.
                                                                                                                                      on electric dreams

           and children. The test was         narrowbodies at the Paris                      22-satellite navigation        killing all eight passengers   Swiss-based aeropsace
           carried out at the Landing         Air Show in June.                              positioning network which      and eight crew. According      group, which has the
           and Impact Research                                                               went out of service on 12      to reports, the twin-engine    Swiss state as its only
           Facility at NASA’s Langley         Embraer has secured                            July due to a technical        aircraft reached a height      shareholder, realigns itself
           Research Center in                 the first international                        problem relating to its        of 200ft before veering        to focus on aerostructures
           Hampton, Virginia.                 customer for its KC-390                        ground infrastructure          down into an empty hangar      and space.
                                              tactical transport/tanker,                     in Italy. Galileo's critical   and catching fire. The US
           Saudi low-cost carrier             with Portugal having                           seach and rescue               NTSB is now investigating      China Southern Airlines
           flyadeal has cancelled             signed up to for five                          services were unaffected       the crash.                     has taken delivery of the                   Europe
           an order for up to 50              aircraft. First deliveries                     in the widespread outage,                                     first of an order for 20                    budget
           of Boeing’s 737MAX                 are set for 2023.                              which was down for six         France's Dassault Aviation     Airbus A350-900s. The                       Ryanai
           airliners. The airline will                                                       days.                          has acquired Switzerland’s     aircraft will begin operating               loss of
           now switch to Airbus               As AEROSPACE goes                                                             RUAG business aviation         on domestic routes from                     for 201
           A320neos after its parent          to press, engineers have                       A Beechcraft King Air 350      division. The divestiture of   Guangzhou to Shanghai                       first qu
                                                                                                                                                                                                       March
           group Saudi Arabian                now restored services                          crashed on take-off from       its business aviation MRO      and Beijing, followed by
                                                                                                                                                                                                       passen
           Airlines placed an order           from the European                              Addison airport, north of      operations in Geneva and       flights to international                    32.7m
           for up to 50 of the Airbus         Galileo GNSS orbiting                          Dallas in Texas, on 30 June    Lugano, comes as the           destinations.                               for 201
                                                                                                                                                                                                       rose 9
                                                                                                                                                                                                       €1.53b
                @aerosociety    i   Find us on LinkedIn   f   Find us on Facebook                www.aerosociety.com                                                     AUGUST 2019        7          Ryanai

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AEROSPACE

                                        Radome
                                        AEROSPACE                                                                       DEFENCE
                                        EASA publishes eVTOL                                                                RAF Poseidon makes first flight
                                        ‘flying car’ rules
                                        The European Aviation             people-carrying VTOL with
                                        Safety Agency (EASA)              nine or fewer passengers
                                        has published a final             and a maximum certified
                                        Special Condition to              take-off mass up to
                                        act as a framework for            3,175kg.
                                        manufacturers to develop          EASA says that it is
                                        new hybrid and electrical         ‘actively engaging with the
                                        vertical take-off and landing     industry to develop the right
                                        (VTOL) aircraft. Opened           technical requirements to
                                        for public consultation           take benefit of the new
                                                                                                          Royal Air Force

                                        in October last year and          technologies bringing safety
                                        published on 2 July, the          and environmental benefits
                                        Special Condition applies to      to the community’.

                                        GENERAL AVIATION                                                                                                  On 12 July the first of eight Boeing P-8A Poseiden
                                                                                                                                                          multi-mission maritime patrol aircaft, ZP801, named 'Pride
                                        Researchers at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, have sucessfuly demonstrated an                       of Moray' for the Royal Air Force, made its first flight
                                        optical-imagery-based system able to auto-land a twin-engine DA-42 with a safety pilot. The                       from Boeing Field in Seattle. The first aircraft is set to be
                                                                                                                                                          formally handed over to the RAF in October, and arrive in
                                        system uses cameras (including one infra-red) and satellite positioning data, rather than ground-
                                                                                                                                                          the UK at RAF Lossiemouth in 2020.
                                        based navigational aids to recognise a runway and perform an approach and landing.

                                                                                                                                                          SPACEFLIGHT
                                                                                                                                                          Arianespace Vega rocket
                                                                                                                                                          lost on launch
                                                                                                                                                          An Arianespace Vega              the UAE FalconEye-1
                                                                                                                                                          launcher failed to reach         spy satellite in what was
       Technical University of Munich

                                                                                                                                                          orbit on 10 July after the       described as a ‘major
                                         Vision-based                                                                                                     second stage failed to ignite
                                                                                                                                                          two minutes after lift-off
                                                                                                                                                                                           anomaly’. The Vega rocket
                                                                                                                                                                                           had previously flown 14
                                         system lands DA-42                                                                                               from Korou, French Guiana..      times successfully since

                                         autonomously                                                                                                     The rocket crashed into
                                                                                                                                                          the Atlantic Ocean carrying
                                                                                                                                                                                           2012. An investigation into
                                                                                                                                                                                           the cause is now underway.

                                        NEWS IN BRIEF
                                                                          lifted off from Cape                              as well as other tweaks to                                     launcher from Cape
                                        Saab Digital Air Traffic          Canaveral on 2 July for a                         reduce the lst price below    Bulgaria has approved            Canaveral, Florida.
                                        Solutions has won an              four-minute flight during                         $10m.                         the acquisition of eight         The launch, the third
                                        order to install a digital        which the abort system                                                          Lockheed Martin F-16V            overall for Falcon
                                        tower at NATO Air Base            was used to separate                              Safran is to open a new       fighters. The $1.25bn deal       Heavy, saw the rocket
                                        Geilenkirchen in Germany.         the capsule from the                              carbon brake manufacturing    includes six single-seat         successfully put 24
                                        The digital tower, which          refurbished Peacekeeper                           factory in Lyon, France. To   and two two-seat fighters,       satellites into orbit –
                                        is due to be delivered in         test booster and then to                          by operating by 2024, the     together with training           including payloads from
                                        2020, will operate while          separate the abort system                         factory will employ up to     and support packages.            the USAF, NASA and The
                                        the current control tower is      from the capsule.                                 200 workers.                  The aircraft will replace        Planetary Society. Two
                                        being refurbished.                                                                                                Russian-built MiG-29s,           side boosters successfully
                                                                          Bombardier has unveiled                           Romanian carrier TAROM        which date back to the           landed back vertically at
                                        NASA has successfully             a new more affordable                             is to lease nine new ATR      1980s and 1990s.                 Cape Canaveral, while
                                        completed a test flight of        version of its Learjet 75                         72-600 turboprops. The                                         the central core booster
                                        the abort system for the          − the Liberty. It features                        aircraft will be delivered    On 25 June SpaceX                narrowly missed landing
                                        Orion ascent capsule. The         two fewer seats than the                          from October through to       conducted the first night        on SpaceX’s drone barge
                                        unmanned test booster             normally eight-seat aircraft                      2020.                         launch of its Falcon Heavy       landing pad in the Atlantic.

  8                                     AEROSPACE / AUGUST 2019

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OSPACE

                   SPACEFLIGHT                                                                                                      AIR TRANSPORT
                    On 27 June, NASA announced that the next space mission in its New Frontiers                                     Qantas to boost pilot
                    exploration initiative will land a robotic quadcopter on Titan – Saturn’s largest moon. The
                    Dragonfly mission, would see a flying lander equipped with rotors to fly short hops in                          training pipeline
                    Titan’s dense nitrogen-based atmosphere. Launch is scheduled for
                                                                                                                                    Australian flag carrier      September which will train
                    2026 with arrival at Titan in 2034.
                                                                                                                                    Qantas is to open a second   up to 250 pilots a year. The
                                                                                                                                    pilot training academy       airline notes that around
                                                                                                                                    in the coastal town of       790,000 more airline
                                                                                                                                    Mackay, Queensland. The      pilots will be needed over
                                                                                                                                    airline already has one      the next 20 years, with
                                                                                                                                    academy in Toowoomba,        one-third of them being in
                                                                                                                                    which is set to open in      Asia-Pacific.

                                                                                                                                     On 4 July, the Light Armed Helicopter,
                                                                                                                                     developed by Korean Aerospace
                                                                                                                                     Industries (KAI) made its first flight at
                                                                                                                                     the company facility in Sacheon, South
                                                                                                                                     Korea.The first flight saw the LAH,
                                                                                                                                     developed from the Airbus H155, get
                                                                                                                                     airborne for 20 minutes. South Korea is
                    NASA to send rotorcraft to Titan                                                                                 expected to acquire over 200 LAHs.
            NASA

                   AEROSPACE                                                                            GENERAL AVIATION
                   Boeing to donate $100m                                                               INFOGRAPHIC: One More Orbit
                   to 737 MAX families                                                                  circumnavigates globe to mark Apollo
                                                                                                        An ex-NASA astronaut and team of aviators has broken the 1977 record for
                   Boeing has announced it is        over multiple years, will see                      circumnavigating the globe via both north and south poles in a time of 46
                   to make a $100m charitable        Boeing partner with local                          hours, 39 minutes and 38 seconds. The One More Orbit used a Qatar Airways'
                                                                                                        Gulfstream G650ER to set the record, starting and ending the challenge from the
                   donation to the families of       governments and NGOs to
                                                                                                        Kennedy Space Center in honour of Apollo 11.
                   the 346 victims that died in      provide living and education
                   both Ethiopian Airlines and       expenses for families
                   Lion Air 737 MAX airliner         affected by the tragedies,
                   crashes.                          as well as fund community
                   The donation, to be released      projects.

                   ON THE                            COO is to leave his job at
                                                     the end of this year.
                   MOVE
                                                     Powerscourt's Ben
                   The CE of Norwegian Air,          Griffiths is to become
                   Bjørn Kjos, has stepped           the new Head of
                   down after 17 years in            Communications at
                   charge at the airline.            2Excel Aviation.

                   Boeing 737 MAX                    NASA’s Director of
                   programme chief Eric              Human Spaceflight,
                   Lindbald, is to retire.           Bill Gerstenmaier,
                   His place will be taken           has been replaced by
                   by Mark Jenks, Vice               Ken Bowersox. Bill
                   President of Boeing’s             Hill, Deputy Associate
                   New Mid-market Airplane           Administrator for
                                                                                       One More Orbit

                   (NMA) programme.                  Exploration Systems
                                                     Development, is also to
                   Peter Bellew, Ryanair             be replaced.

                      @aerosociety     i   Find us on LinkedIn   f   Find us on Facebook                   www.aerosociety.com                                                 AUGUST 2019       9
    August 2019 news pages.indd 7                                                                                                                                                        06/08/2019 09:07
SWOOPS TO CONQUER PARIS AIR SHOW NEWS BOEING T-X - BREAKING THE MOULD? AI AND LEGAL LIABILITY - Royal ...
antenna:                                                                    Global Outlook and
                                                                                 Analysis with
                                                                                 HOWARD WHEELDON

     Fighter replacement
     dogfights heat up
                               W
                                                       ith the UK planning to order                The decision taken earlier this year by the Danish
                                                       further F-35 Joint Strike Fighter      Government to purchase 27 Lockheed Martin F-35A
                                                       jets from Lockheed Martin over         fighter jets for delivery between 2021 and 2026 to
                                                       the next few years, Belgium            replace an ageing fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16s.
                                                       having decided to follow the UK,       This followed an intense competition that saw both
                               Netherlands and Italy in buying F-35s, the French              Boeing’s F/A-18F Super Hornet and Eurofighter
                               Air Force and Navy continuing to receive deliveries            Typhoon lose out.
                               of Rafale jets, Germany planning to replace its 90                  Undoubtedly, the constant flow of verbal and
                               Panavia Tornado jets with more Eurofighter Typhoons            tweeted warnings from US President Donald Trump
                               and Finland looking to replace its ageing fleet of             has played a part in forcing European governments
                               Boeing F/A-18s, Western governments can hardly be              to rethink defence strategy. There are pros and cons
                               accused of failing to modernise their fast jet fleets.         in this and, while there is a general consensus and
                                    The UK and, separately, Germany, France and               understanding that European NATO members must
                               Spain have also realised the importance of investing           pay more for the defence of Europe, it is important
                               in sixth-generation jet fighter technology. To that            to ensure that European defence is not allowed to
                               end Germany, France and Spain signed a deal at                 become more fragmented. NATO must remain the
                               the Paris Air Show that aims to jointly develop a              overarching alliance for European defence, no matter
                               sixth generation European fighter jet and air combat           what.
                               system known as the Future Air System (FCAS).
                                    Last summer, the UK formally launched Team                A Swiss decision
                               Tempest, a consortium that includes HM Government,
                               the Royal Air Force Rapid Capability Office (RCO),             Although not a member of NATO, Switzerland has,
     IT IS PLEASING            BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo and MBDA, to                just as it also does with the European Union, long
     TO SEE THAT               develop a next generation manned/unmanned stealth              collaborated with NATO strategy. Even so, while
     MORE WESTERN              fighter jet. The UK is unlikely to do this alone and is        the Swiss Government and Swiss Air Force rarely
                               currently talking to a number of potential international       produce headlines in relation to defence, the Swiss
     NATIONS, NOT              partners, the first of which is quite likely to have been      Government’s decision to call for bids for up to 40
     JUST THOSE                announced at the Royal International Air Tattoo held at        new military jets in a programme – suggested to be
     IN NATO, ARE              RAF Fairford in July.                                          worth CHF 8bn – to replace a fleet of very elderly
     NOW ACTIVELY                                                                             Northrop F-5 Tiger fighters and Boeing F/A-18s
                               Future jet planning                                            has aroused considerable interest among military jet
     PLANNING                                                                                 manufacturers.
     TO REPLACE                While France, Germany and Spain and, separately,                    The result is an intense competition in which the
     AGEING FLEETS             the UK, are busy sorting the requirements for future           French fighter manufacturer, Dassault, is bidding the
                               sixth generation fighter requirements, it is pleasing          Rafale, Airbus the Eurofighter Typhoon, Boeing the
     OF MILITARY
                               to see that more Western nations, not just those in            F/A-18E Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin the
     JETS                      NATO, are now actively planning to replace ageing              F-35A. The Swedish-based aircraft manufacturer,
                               fleets of military jets. A resurgent Russia, combined          Saab, had also entered the Swiss Government’s
                               with concerns over China and an increased focus                Air2030 fighter competition with its Gripen E fighter
                               in Middle East instability, with eyes on Iran, may be          but later withdrew.
                               seen as a wake-up call to some, while warnings                      The assessment phase of the Swiss Government’s
                               and increased pressure exerted on European NATO                Air2030 programme is due to be completed by
                               members by the US that Europe must take more                   the end of 2020. As has become customary in
                               responsibility for its defence have combined to play a         Switzerland with regards to large defence equipment
                               part in forcing governments to increase spending on            purchases, a referendum will be held to allow voters
                               defence.                                                       to decide whether the country should acquire new
                                   While questions remain on whether countries such           military jet. However, assuming the decision is positive,
                               as the UK have sufficient available fast jet capacity, it is   they will not be asked to decide on the aircraft type.
                               particularly good to see NATO member countries such                 Finland is yet another hugely important non-NATO
                               as Denmark, Finland and Canada launching major new             country currently seeking to replace an ageing fleet
                               fast jet equipment procurement programmes.                     of Boeing F/A-18C Hornets. To that end the Finnish

10   AEROSPACE / AUGUST 2019
US Gov/ Jovante Johnson
Government has called for bids for up to 64 new                         Two US Air Force F-35A           of the BAE-designed Canadian Surface Combatant
multirole fighter jets in a procurement deal expected                   Lightning II fighter aircraft,   ships for the Royal Canadian Navy, to enter the F-35
to be worth somewhere between $9bn and $12bn for                        assigned to the 421st            into the combat jet competition.
the eventual winner. Again, interest has been intense                   Fighter Squadron, Hill Air           These specific changes announced will allow for
                                                                        Force Base, Utah, right,
with no fewer than five competing jets. Lockheed                                                         a more flexible approach in determining the value
                                                                        fly in formation with two
Martin has entered its F-35A, BAE Systems is bidding                    Finnish F/A-18 Hornets.          of the benefits bidders are able to offer Canadian
the Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab has entered the Gripen                                                     defence firms: they come after a series of discussions
E, Boeing the Super Hornet and Dassault its Rafale.                                                      with the US Government and threats by the Pentagon
                                                                                                         to withdraw the jet from consideration.
The Canadian restock                                                                                         Under the current terms, bidders were required
                                                                                                         to offer industrial benefits to Canada as part of
Across the pond and notwithstanding that a Federal                                                       the competition. That system, which would have
election is due to take place sometime during later in                                                   disadvantaged the F-35, will now be amended,
the year, meaning that most formal business of the                                                       sources say. However, those companies that do
Canadian Parliament has already been completed,                                                          guarantee work for Canadian firms will receive more
the Canadian Government has been pressing on with                                                        consideration under the new rules.
its hugely important fast jet procurement competition                                                        US officials had warned that the agreement
at the time of writing, hoping to have despatched                                                        Canada signed to be a partner nation in Lockheed
the final bidding criteria and the formal requests for                                                   Martin’s development of the F-35 prohibits those
proposal by late July to the various competing jet                                                       partner nations from imposing requirements for
manufacturers, calling on them to submit bids for up                                                     industrial benefits in fighter jet competitions. “We
to 88 new fighter jets.                                                                                  cannot participate in an offer of the F-35 weapon
     In what will no doubt be another politically                                                        system where requirements do not align with the
charged competition between US and European                                                              F-35 Partnership,” US Navy Vice-Adm Mathias Winter
military aircraft manufacturers, the procurement                                                         told Canadian officials in a letter sent in December.
plan is based around replacement of ageing Boeing
CF-18 Hornet jets by the mid 2020s. Canada was                                                           Luftwaffe requirements
forced to acquire some F/A-18s from Australia
to supplement the existing fleet of CF-18s. The                                                          The decision by Germany to knock the F-35
importance of acquiring new aircraft to replace these                                                    Joint Strike Fighter out of the Panavia Tornado
was highlighted by a report recently issued by the                                                       replacement competition which has left an upgraded
Canadian Auditor General, Michael Ferguson which                                                         version of the hugely successful Eurofighter Typhoon
suggested that, without combat upgrades the CF-18                                                        to compete against the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super
fleet will be less effective against adversaries in                                                      Hornet, caused significant initial surprise. However, if
domestic and international operations. The report                                                        Germany does decide to go for Eurofighter Typhoon,
also highlighted the serious shortages of pilots,                                                        the question arises that the aircraft is not currently
technicians and maintainers.                                                                             certified to carry US-made nuclear bombs for the
     The Canadian Government has already been                                                            NATO nuclear mission. The most likely outcome
forced to change the terms of what is expected to be                                                     is that Germany will probably acquire additional
a competition worth in the region of $19bn to allow                                                      Eurofighter Typhoons and a fleet of Boeing F/A-18E
Lockheed Martin, which was recently awarded build                                                        Super Hornets.

     @aerosociety   i   Find us on LinkedIn   f   Find us on Facebook        www.aerosociety.com                                                      AUGUST 2019
                                                                                                                                                                                              11
Transmission
     LETTERS AND ONLINE

                                                                                                                     i
                                                                                                                                           Helicopter conference
     737 MAX MCAS software upgrades
                                                                                                                                           Philippe Mairet [On
     The news item in the June                                       that it should be perfectly
                                                                                                                                           RAeS Onshore helicopter
     issue of AEROSPACE                                              possible to establish a
                                                                                                                                           safety conference 3-4
     refers to Boeing having                                         correlation relating flow
                                                                                                                                           July] Interesting!
     completed work on                                               development about the
     upgrading the software                                          fuselage nose to aircraft

                                                                                                                                                   f
     involved in the MCAS                                            incidence. However, such
     system(1). Presumably,                                          a correlation would need
     this refers to the                                              to apply to the possible
     algorithm interpreting                                          flow development at all                HSA1011
     aircraft incidence from                                         relevant flight conditions,
                                                                                                            Geoffrey Wardle [On
     measurement of flow                                             and this might be more
                                                                                                            shapeshifting supersonic
     development on one or                                           tricky. Alternatively,
                                                                                                            airliner(3)] An interesting
     both sides of the fuselage                                      upgrading the software
                                                                                                            article on the HSA1011.
     nose. The nose-down                                             might simply involve
                                                                                                            Given all the issues of
     movement needed to                                              correcting an error, or
                                                                                                            weight growth that dogged       HSA1011(3)
     reduce the incidence          the stalling incidence, to        errors, in the program
                                                                                                            the Boeing 2707 due
     below the stalling angle      allow the flow to stabilise       algorithm or text, or
                                                                                                            largely to its variable        Steve Howe It’s just a fly
     will, of course, generate     and the aircraft incidence        something else altogether.
                                                                                                            geometry configuration, it     faster Trident!
     upwash about the nose.        to be deduced. Having a           I believe that it is
                                                                                                            would be interesting to see
     I understand that this is     fair amount of experience         incumbent upon Boeing
                                                                                                            where a VG HSA1011,
     taken into account by         of interpreting aircraft flow     to clarify what is meant by
                                                                                                            would have led. Also the       Namviator Petty
     freezing the movement for     development from CFD              ‘upgrading the software’.
                                                                                                            extreme area rule fuselage     Tjitemisa Concorde... this
     a certain amount of time      predictions and wind-
                                                                                                            may well have presented        is why the Concorde was
     at a few degrees below        tunnel test data, I believe                      Allan Bocci
                                                                                                            aircraft evacuation issues.    way too early...

     A tribute to Roger Béteille of Airbus
     It was quite a coincidence                                                                             old terminal building at       on the Concorde project
                                                                                                   Airbus

     that in the July 2019                                                                                  Toulouse airport to keep       from 1968 to 1972, it
     edition of AEROSPACE,                                                                                  them isolated from the         was always obvious to
     which contained Howard                                                                                 main Airbus offices (or so     me that Concorde would
     Wheeldon’s article on ‘New                                                                             I was told). I produced the    be a commercial failure. I
     Management for a new                                                                                   first marketing brochure for   was one of a few at Filton
     age of Airbus’(2) there was                                                                            the A320 and supported         who agreed with Mary
     also the announcement                                                                                  early marketing missions       Goldring of The Economist
     of the death of Roger                                                                                  to Australia, Japan and        in 1968. It was reassuring
     Henri Béteille at 97 (an                                                                               Scandinavia. The A320          that Aérospatiale had
     obituary of Béteille is                                                                                was finally launched in        come to the same
     on p52 fof this issue).                                                                                1984 and it is with my         conclusion. We should
     Roger Béteille was one                                                                                 great satisfaction that the    accept that Concorde
     of the founding fathers                                                                                A320 family has sold well      was a commercial failure
     of Airbus Industrie. I was                                                                             over 14,000 aircraft. It is    with totally unacceptable
     employed by Aérospatiale      Roger Béteille, left, secured the first US sale of the Airbus            one of the most successful     noise and pollution and we
     in 1982/83 and worked         A300 with Frank Borman of Eastern Airlines in 1977.                      commercial aircraft ever.      should stop romanticising
     in Airbus Industrie’s                                                                                  It was also interesting to     about it. Instead, we should
     Blagnac headquarters          the presence of a giant          sales in 1982 were more                 note that during an Airbus     celebrate the contribution
     under Dennis Little, Head     of the aviation industry.        interested in promoting                 employee ‘family open day’     made by the Airbus
     of Sales Technology.          I often passed him in            the twin-aisle market                   in Blagnac in 1982, only       founding fathers and the
     Dennis was a wonderful        the corridors of Airbus          rather than the single-                 Airbus A300 aircraft were      fantastic success of the
     and inspirational leader      headquarters and he was          aisle concept. One of my                on display. I noticed a real   Airbus aircraft, especially
     and was very effective        a quiet, polite but very         tasks was to work with                  Concorde aircraft hidden       the A320 family, and the
     in Airbus. On occasions,      impressive gentleman who         the 12 staff members of                 in the back of a hangar,       huge commercial benefits
     Roger Béteille visited        masterminded so much             the single-aisle project                not to be seen by the          they have brought us.
     Dennis to discuss issues      of the Airbus we know            team under Derek Brown’s                families. It was clear that
     and it was, for me a          today. It was interesting to     Directorship. The small                 the future was with Airbus.                Adrian Sayce
     great privilege to be in      note that many in Airbus         team were housed in the                 Although I had worked                             FRAeS

12   AEROSPACE / AUGUST 2019
Pre-Concorde supersonic swing-wing design(3)                                                                                       @MichaelJPryce

                                                                                                                                                     Mike Stanberry
                                                                                                                                                                      Designed by Jim Floyd,
                                                                                                                                                                      who also designed the
                                                                                                                                                                      Avro Arrow and led the
                                                                                                                                                                      Hawker Siddeley team on
                                                                                                                                                                      the M2.0 SST competition,
                                                                                                                                                                      realised through that work
                                                                                                                                                                      that the boom would be a
                                                                                                                                                                      show stopper. So this…
 Sweden and Tempest
@chodpollard [On                     The 1961 HSA1011 model photoshopped against a sky background.                                                                    @Trokii_UAV Shades of
Sweden joining UK Team                                                                                                                                                Backfire/Blinder in that...
Tempest project] Huge             @PaulMarks12                           @PaoloNurra One looks                    @BurkhardDomke Was                                  wouldn’t mind it taking me
boost, no?                        Fascinating. It has                    like a Valkyrie                          that configuration really                           on holiday!
                                  something of an evolved                                                         about noise or about area
                                  VC10 about it.                                                                  ruling and low(er) drag?
@maou42 We could do                                                      @graysonottaway I’d                                                                          @AusRailHistory Looks
worse when it comes to                                                   suggest HS at the time                                                                       like the perpetually ill-fated
partners. The Gripen is           @tropicostation That is                were more than capable of                @AvHistorian Shades of                              ‘Fireflash’ from the original
a very decent airplane.           just lovely. Concorde meets            doing it too!                            the Carreidas 160?                                  Thunderbirds series.
Model of cheap and fast           Hawker Hunter.
maintenance/modularity
and sensibly priced.
                                   Moon landing films                    Quad racing                              RAeS Pride flag
@PhSw2016 Sweden                  @LettersfromTim [On                    @jonowstrower [On
could contribute at               Armstrong and Apollo 11                Airspeeder piloted
least Saab’s software             film reviews(4)] Exactly the           quadcopter racing] Humans
architecture which makes          right guy to take that first           might be the only species
those quicker-than-               step. Ad Astra Neil                    that dreams up more and
competitors updates                                                      more fun ways to limit their
possible.                                                                life expectancy.

Launch your own Saturn V rocket                                          @daveoflynn Bill Booth (a
@Flyingarchivist That’s                                                  seminal figure in the history
                                                                                                                  @wraillantclark [On                                 @PrideInAviation You
one short flight for an app                                              of sport parachuting) refers
                                                                                                                  RAeS Flies the flag                                 would be most welcome at
but the stairs to the top                                                to it as risk homeostasis –
                                                                                                                  for diversity blog(5)]                              @PrideInAviation event
floor are exhausting...                                                  as you make an endeavour
                                                                                                                  Great to see so many                                @city_airport on 18th
                                                                         safer, humans deliberately
                                                                                                                  inclusive tweets                                    August – World Helicopter
                                                                         add more risk.
                                                                                                                  coming from the British                             Day
@steerwithmyrear I’ve                                                                                             #aviation community
just downloaded that and                                                                                          today! #PRIDEinSTEM
it is wonderful! Blowing so                                               Airbus 50 years book                    #PrideInLondon                                      @Joshlesh This means
many minds at RIAT HQ.                                                                                                                                                the world. Well done and
                                                                         @JetCityStar [On Airbus
                                                                         pulling 50th anniversary                                                                     thank you
                                                                         book] Lawyers firmly in                  @HurleyRob YES!! You
@JohnChinner It’s                                                                                                 did it! Great work
                                                                         control of both Airbus and
gonna need more than a                                                                                            @JeffinerB !!!                                       @AeroSoph Fame at
                                                                         Boeing. Sad times.
roll program to get out of                                                                                                                                            last!
there. Love it.

                                                                         1. AEROSPACE, June 2019, p 6, Boeing completes 737 MAX software update
@RichardGearing As an                                                    2. AEROSPACE, July 2019, p 10, Antenna
                                                                         3. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/shapeshifting-supersonic-airliner/
@AeroSociety Trustee, I’m         The lobby of No.4                      4. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/apollo-50th-on-the-big-screen/
glad there was no damage          Hamilton Place as seen                 5. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/raes-flies-the-flag-for-diversity-in-aerospace-and-aviation/
to the building Look out          through a Smithsonian
@SpaceCornwall – you
might have a competitor as
a UK launch site!
                                  app showing a virtual
                                  reality launch of an Apollo
                                  11 Saturn V rocket.
                                                                                                Online
                                                                                                Additional features and content are available to view
                                                                                                online at http://media.aerosociety.com/aerospace-insight

    @aerosociety    i   linkedin.com/raes
                        Find us on LinkedIn   f   facebook.com/raes
                                                  Find us on Facebook.       www.aerosociety.com
                                                                             www.aerosociety.com                                                                                     AUGUST 2019       13
AEROSPACE
          High value design

     Inspiration nation
     UK experts imagine the future of passenger flight – a hybrid,
     bio-inspired green airliner for sustainable aviation that could cut
     fuel burn by up to 50%. TIM ROBINSON reports on the Airbus ‘Bird of Prey’.

     A
                      irbus has revealed a visionary concept      engineering with creativity to define a product.
                      from its engineers in Filton for a          Explains Martin Aston, Senior Manager, Airbus and
                      ultramodern, green airliner of the future   project lead for Bird of Prey: “It’s that combination of
                      – one possible outcome of where             imagination, innovation and awareness of science,
                      today’s advanced technology may take        then converting that into a viable product.”
     us when designers’ imaginations are truly unleashed.               Thought up by Airbus engineers at the UK’s Filton
          The Bird of Prey is a 80-seater, 1,500km range          site who were given a brief to imagine the future of
     hybrid-electric regional airliner that incorporates the      flight without any limits, the Bird of Prey was brought
     latest thinking in aerodynamics and flight control,          to life by a British superyacht and industrial designer –
     structures and distributed propulsion to create the          Rob McPherson of BezierLab. McPherson remarked:
     greenest ever future airliner. Using technology now          “When I was approached to see if I’d be interested in
     under development, the Bird of Prey could provide            creating a vision for a future airliner I jumped at the
     a 30-50% reduction in fuel burn compared to                  chance,” adding: “The brief was to create a concept
     equivalent aircraft today – a major leap in efficiency.      which would be technically possible if we pushed
          Says Jeremy Greaves FRAeS, Vice President,              ourselves to the limits but futuristic enough to inspire.
     UK Corporate Affairs and Strategy, Airbus: “This is          It was delightful to be encouraged to think freely and
     a visioneering project where we asked our talented           could only be done with such a visionary client!”
     flight physicists to imagine what the future could look            The company stresses that the Bird of Prey should
     like.” The Bird of Prey then, is an example of critical      not be seen as a firm Airbus programme, “or even as
     High Value Design (HVD) that combines preliminary            having an entry-into-service date assigned to it.” Says

14   AEROSPACE / AUGUST 2019
Greaves: “It may not be real in current Airbus strategy     Biomimicry as design inspiration
                                  or financial planning but it provides a headmark for
                                  future inspirations.”                                       “The birds fly a lot better than we do,” observes Leslie
                                       As well as Airbus, the initiative (which includes a    Howard as legendary Spitfire designer Reginald J
                                  large 2.5m wingspan static model unveiled at RIAT)          Mitchell in the film ‘First of the Few’, “See how they
                                  is supported by the UK’s Air League, Aerospace              wheel and bank and glide. Perfect. And all in one:
                                  Technology Institute, IET, Whitehall’s ‘Britain is Great’   wings, body, tail. All in one. And when we try, we build
                                  campaign and the Royal Aeronautical Society. This           something all stuck together with strings and struts
                                  model will make for an impressive talking point and         and wires. But, you wait. Someday, I’m going to build
                                  centrepiece at future aviation events and functions. A      a plane that will move just like a bird.” That aircraft,
                                  ‘Phase 2’ of the initiative, says Airbus, could see this    of course, was the iconic Spitfire, a paradox in being
                                  non-flying model transformed into a flying prototype        perhaps one of the world’s most beautiful aircraft but
                                  as an exciting student design project for control           built with a deadly purpose.
                                  systems.                                                          ‘Strings and struts and wires’ may have been
                                       Says Aston on the model and Bird of Prey               replaced today by ‘nacelles, engine pylons and
                                  concept: “What we want to do is get people to look          fuselage belly fairings’, but, some 83 years after the
                                  at that and say, ‘right, how would I design that’? What     Spitfire’s first flight, modern design tools, advanced
                                  technologies would I put on there? How would I make         materials, 3D printing, brought together with ‘high
                                  it work? How would I make it? How would I maintain it,      value design’ (HVD) may allow tomorrow’s aircraft
                                  how would I make sure that it’s reliable?”                  engineers to pursue Mitchell’s vision of a perfectly
                                       The aviation industry has set itself tough targets     streamlined ‘bird-like’ aircraft to its ultimate form for a
                                  to reduce its environmental impact – such as the EU’s       more peaceful role, the Bird of Prey.
                                  Flightpath 2050 – which calls for a reduction in CO2              Says industrial designer McPherson: “During
                                  by 75%, NOx by 95% and noise by 65% by 2050.                the initial meeting at Airbus I was briefed on the
Above: Airbus’ incredible
                                  Concepts such as Bird of Prey will help turn these          technology that was currently being developed and
Bird of Prey concept
airliner on which The Royal       aspirations into reality by showing what might be           one aspect was biomimicry. The talk was about making
Aeronautical Society is           possible and inspiring a new generation of aerospace        wings more flexible/adaptive like a bird’s wing. Wing
proud to be a partner.            professionals to dream big.                                 tip ‘feathers’ were discussed which led me to create a

   @aerosociety     i   Find us on LinkedIn   f   Find us on Facebook   www.aerosociety.com                                                AUGUST 2019      15
AEROSPACE
           High value design

                                          couple of concept sketches of a more natural looking       may be ‘spray painted’ on using today’s automated
                                          wing. I wanted something that would look powerful          systems.
                                          and purposeful, so decided to look at birds of prey for
                                          inspiration.”                                              Moveable wingtips
                                               This is no mere aesthetics but would result in
                                          improved aerodynamics by taking cues from nature.          Perhaps one of the most radical aspects of the Bird
                                          An albatross, with wing aspect ratio of 18:1 compared      of Prey is in its individual wingtip ‘feathers’ – which
                                          to around 9.5 on an A320 is able to travel 1,000s of       combine the drag-reduction function of traditional
                                          kilometres by barely using any energy. Blending the        winglets, seen on many aircraft today, with the control
                                          wing and fuselage in an arch, mirrors how a bird’s         and stability function of a bird’s feathers, replacing
                                          body blends into its wings and provides for maximum        traditional ailerons and flaps. Only recently an idea
                                          aerodynamic efficiency. Instead of hinged ailerons         like this might have seemed like science fiction.
                                          or flaps, the Bird of Prey would use highly-efficient      However, advances in active and passive ‘morphing’
                                          wing-tip feathers to ‘morph’ and control its flightpath,   using shape-memory materials has now brought this
                                          as well as shaping the wing for various phases of          advanced control system technology, a call-back to
                                          flight. Control using these active wingtip devices and     the Wright brothers ‘wing-warping’, closer to practical
                                          distributed propulsion                                     applications.
                                          would also allow the                                             As well as NASA in the US, the UK is making
                                          tail empennage                                             strides in this field. Earlier this year Airbus revealed that
                                          to be                                                       it had flown AlbatrossOne – a sub-scale demonstrator
                                          reduced in                                                                                  developed by its British
                                          size and                                                                                     Filton engineers which
                                          weight                                                                                        featured a movable
                                                                                                                                         hinged wingtip. The
                                                                                                                                         ‘semi-aeroelastic hinge’
                                                                                                                                          on the AlbatrossOne
                                                                                                                                         allows the wingtips to
                                                                                                                                        freely flap – cutting down
                                                                                                                                           on turbulence and
                                                                                                                                                      gusts, while

                                          and radically reimagined into
                                          a bird’s tail feathers to provide precision control. No
                                          vertical tail, as in the B-2 stealth bomber and various    also reducing overall weight. Airbus Filton engineer
                                          UAVs, would allow for reduced drag and increased           Tom Watson explains: “The Airbus demonstrator is the
                                          aerodynamic efficiency.                                    first aircraft to trial in-flight, freely-flapping wing-tips
                                                As Mitchell’s Spitfire demonstrates, taking ideas    to relieve the effects of wind gusts and turbulence”,
                                          from nature is nothing new for aerospace, but todays       adding: “We drew inspiration from nature – the
                                          scientists are constantly discovering new applications     albatross marine bird locks its wings at the shoulder for
                                          of biomimicry. Sharks and whales, for example, have        long-distance soaring but unlocks them when wind-
                                          rough skin that paradoxically reduces drag in the          gusts occur or manoeuvring is required.”
                                          water. That adaptation has been investigated by Airbus           “The AlbatrossOne model will explore the benefits
                                          in a series of operational trials using test patches       of unlockable, freely-flapping wing-tips – accounting
                                          of ‘riblets’ applied to aircraft surfaces. A further       for up to a third of the length of the wing – to react
     All images used by kind permission
     from Airbus unless stated.           development is that these rough drag-reducing skins        autonomously during inflight turbulence and lessen

16   AEROSPACE / AUGUST 2019
the load on the wing at its base, so reducing the need                Lower fuel burn would also translate into lower
for heavily reinforced wing boxes.”                                   operating costs, lower ticket prices for passengers and
     Combining these wingtip functions of gust                        thus potentially open up wider networks of regional
response, drag and load reductions, with roll control                 airports for point-to-point travel.
functions, as well as locking for long-range cruise, thus                  As well as its incredible fuel efficiency, the Bird
brings an aeroplane close to the ultra-aerodynamic                    of Prey would also be a greener neighbour, as its
efficiency of birds that are able to constantly reshape               short-take-off capability would also allow it to climb
their wings for different phases of flight. Bird of Prey              out steeper, thus reducing the noise footprint on
could be thought of as the ultimate extrapolation of                  the ground. With distributed power, the propellers,
AlbatrossOne.                                                         too, could potentially act as yaw controllers, allowing
                                                                      smoother and more stable landings in crosswinds.
Hybrid-electric power                                                      Indeed, with distributed hybrid-electric propulsion
                                                                      there may even be ways to ‘tune’ the propellers as
The Bird of Prey would use a next-generation hybrid                   a form of ‘active noise control’ to redirect or reduce
electric propulsion system for eco-efficient power,                   noise downwards to the ground. Germany’s DLR
driving four A400M-style scimitar-shaped propellers.                  lab is already investigating this concept for a small
The benefits of hybrid-electric propulsion is that                    regional airliner with distributed propulsion. An ultra-
kerosene-powered engines (whether turbofans or                        quiet regional airliner would open up the possibility of
turboprops) can be resized and optimised for the                      24hour operations or increased frequencies at a far
cruise phase of flight, rather than take-off and climb                wider number of airports.
where electric power is added to boost performance.                        Finally, a distributed hybrid-electric propulsion
Fuel savings could thus be as much as 30% compared                    system would also provide additional levels of system
to today’s designs – a massive jump compared to the                   redundancy and safety. A (highly unlikely) propeller
average 1% that engine manufacturers can squeeze                      failure on one, two or even three propulsors could just
                                                                                                                                 The 2.5m wingspan Bird
out of turbofan architectures each year.                              see the system reroute power to the other remaining        of Prey model is set to
     Airbus is already leading the charge towards                     propellers. Four-engined aircraft (like the B-17) have     provide an inspirational
hybrid-electric propulsion with its E-Fan X                           landed before on single engines but a distributed          talking point. A flying sub-
demonstrator which it is set to fly in 2021 with                      propulsion system able to reconfigure and reroute          scale demonstrator may
partner Rolls-Royce. That ‘X-Plane’ which will fly with               power dynamically as needed would provide far higher       follow.
the world’s largest (2Mw) airborne turbogenerator                     margins of safety.
as a demonstrator for this large and powerful hybrid-
electric system.                                                      3D printing and geodesics
     Moving to a hybrid-electric propulsion system also
allows aircraft designers to decouple the ‘propulsor’                 Another advance that could be used on the Bird of
 (fan, ducted fan or propeller) from the ‘engine’                     Prey is 3D printing and advanced composites to create
       (turbogenerator or battery), opening up radical                an ultra-lightweight, almost ‘bird-like’ skeleton and
              new configurations in distributed propulsion            structure in place of traditional fuselage frames, or
                     that optimise aerodynamics, increase             wing spars and structures. Parts made by additive layer
                          redundancy and boost fuel                   manufacturing (ALM) or 3D printing have the potential      Hybrid-electric propulsion
                                                                                                                                 technology is being
                               efficiency. “We are at the             to be up to 55% lighter than traditional parts. Already
                                                                                                                                 investigated with Airbus/
                                dawn of a new age in                  small 3D printed parts are appearing on aircraft such      Rolls-Royce E-Fan X
                                aviation,” says Rolls-Royce’s         as the Airbus A350 – and these will continue to            demonstrator, set to fly in
                               Chief Technology Officer,              expand in numbers and applications.                        2021.
                          Paul Stein.
                       While long-haul, twin aisle aircraft
        will still need to rely on kerosene-powered
aircraft, Airbus’ Chief Technology Officer, Grazia
Vittadini, notes that the benefits of hybrid-electric
power are such that: “It is definitely one of the
configurations we are exploring injecting into our
core products” when Airbus finally comes to design a
replacement for its short-haul A320neo family.

Distributed propulsion
Distributed propulsion, too, may have other benefits.
Much like an A400M or C-130J can perform short
landings and take-offs using its propellers, so too
could a propeller-driven hybrid airliner. This would
enable it to operate into smaller airports and airfields.

    @aerosociety    i   Find us on LinkedIn   f   Find us on Facebook.com   www.aerosociety.com                                                 AUGUST 2019     17
AEROSPACE
         High Value Design

           Even more excitingly, as well as using 3D printing             aerospace, rather than sub-system design or ‘build to
     to replace existing parts on conventional configuration              print manufacture’ where work can be easily shifted
     aircraft, ALM can free designers from thinking about                 around the world to cheaper workers.                           AlbatrossOne
     traditional shapes for structures, ushering in a new era                   Airbus’ Aston explains: “In 1998 the Ford Motor          – a sub-scale
     of organic-looking aircraft. Airbus has already hinted at            Company produced a study. What they found is that
     future possibilities with its 2050 concept airliner which            70% of a product’s complete life cycle costs are
                                                                                                                                         demonstrator
     features a geodetic-style fuselage structure.                        locked in at the preliminary or HVD phase. Which               developed by
           Interestingly, the Bird of Prey’s geodesic (or                 means that, if you control that part of the process, you       Airbus’ British
     geodetic) structure harks back to another famous                     are very, very influential. If we don’t do that, all we do     Filton engineers
     aircraft built at Airbus UK’s Broughton site in the                  is become a build-to-print nation, take other people’s
     1940s – the Vickers Wellington bomber. Geodetic                      designs and make them. Whereas, if we control the
                                                                                                                                         featuring
     technology, developed by Barnes Wallis, produced a                   product definition, we control what comes next.”               advanced passive
     light but immensely strong and durable structure able                      However, that position (and the UK’s part in it) is      movable wingtips.
     to take large amounts of punishment and damage, yet                  not guaranteed. Leaving the politics of Brexit aside,
     still remain airworthy.                                              it is clear that the UK has been ‘living on past glories’
           Twenty-first century 3D printing and computer                  where key decisions and research made years ago
     design make it feasible that this lattice-work style                 have allowed Britain to retain its crown as the designer
     structure could return in a more elegant form,                       and manufacturer of Airbus wings. The incremental
     combining beautiful organic shapes with extreme                      improvements to airliners such as the A320neo and
     strength.                                                            A330neo have resulted in conservative safe design
                                                                          choices, rather than radical configurations. Even the
     The need for HVD                                                     A350 XWB, while sporting elegant winglets, conforms
                                                                          to the ‘dominant configuration’ of tube, wings and
     To help develop an aircraft like the Bird of Prey, the UK            engines set in the 1950s by the Boeing 707. Says
     needs to refresh and reinvigorate its shrinking HVD                  Aston: “We’ve taken the Wright brothers, aeroplane
     pool of talent. It is estimated, for example, that between           and got it about as far as it’s going to get for now. It
     1990 and 2015, UK HVD capabilities declined by                       now needs the next generation to come along and do
     around 30%. This is a relatively recent development.                 something really clever.”
     For the UK, its HVD contribution to Airbus has centred                     Today though, there are new challenges. The
     around wings, engines (via Rolls-Royce) and landing                  retirement of skilled and experienced aerospace
     gears. Research, begun decades ago with wind tunnels                 engineers and intense competition from new sectors
     and design tools which has allowed Airbus to soar to a               such as IT or web start-ups, have stoked fears of a
     position where it commands a duopoly with Boeing.                    future skills gap for aerospace engineers. There is also
         HVD − or the ability to apply advanced                           competition from new entrants, such as China, which
     engineering from concept to market, is the ‘noble work’              is innovating at an incredible pace. China, although its
     that truly creates long-term value, growth and jobs in               new C919 airliner looks highly conventional, is already
                                                                          looking to a future replacement with a potential V-tailed
                                                                          airliner model. It has to be remembered that it was
                                                                  COMAC

                                                                          Airbus’ willingness to take risks with a widebody twinjet,
                                                                          composites, a two-person flightdeck and FBW that
                                                                          allowed it to leap-frog over US competitors and see off
                                                                          both Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas as commercial
                                                                          rivals. Stagnating is a sure-fire way to decline. Says
                                                                          Aston of the UK’s position: “We’re on the edge. I think
                                                                                                                                         Far left: HVD never stands
                                                                          at the moment there is still real excellence in UK             still. China’s COMAC,
                                                                          engineering, certainly in aerospace. But, unless we            for example, is studying a
                                                                          actually invest in that capability and actually put it ahead   V-tailed design airliner to
                                                                          of the global competition, we risk going into decline.”        follow the C919.

18   AEROSPACE / AUGUST 2019
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