Flight Safety Information July 16, 2010 - No. 140 In This Issue Boeing cautions 787 first delivery could slip to 2011 China establishes aviation industry fund Boeing Shanghai Gains EASA MRO License FAA urges caution in expanding use of unmanned aircraft Homeland Security stymied by shortage of UAV pilots Honeywell: To Provide Flight Control Systems For Chinese Jet Curt Lewis & Associates Names New VP of Operations Flight Safety Information Journal - July 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Boeing cautions 787 first delivery could slip to 2011 With its debut at the 2010 Farnborough air show days away, Boeing has issued a "cautionary note" that the first 787 delivery could slip into early 2011, citing slower than anticipated instrumentation configuration changes and inspections of the horizontal stabiliser. Boeing vice president and general manager Scott Fancher says some of the recent issues have "stacked up" and "could see [first delivery] move a few weeks into the new year". Fancher says the schedule has not officially slipped beyond the fourth quarter timeframe to early to 2011, but adds the airframer will provide more information "as we get closer to the conclusion of flight test". "None of the issues have to do with airplane performance," says Fancher, who emphasises the aircraft continue to perform as expected, adding the fleet of five flying 787 test aircraft has accumulated more than 1,100h of flight testing over 365 flights. Boeing aims to complete 2,400h of flight testing on its four Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 powered test aircraft. Fancher declined to say which instrumentation configuration changes had slowed the flight test programme that began in December 2009, though preparation for flight test aircraft ZA004's flight loads survey and returning ZA001, which last flew on 12 June, to flight testing, are believed to have taken significantly longer than first planned. "We'll do one block of testing with one [instrumentation] configuration, then change," says Fancher who adds the changes have "taken a bit longer than first planned". Additionally, Fancher says that inspections of the horizontal stabilisers of the test fleet are now complete, but that process has "led to a little bit of schedule pressure". Following the revelation of the workmanship issue on 24 June that prompted the inspections, Boeing insisted the "issue will be addressed within the existing programme schedule," though that expectation appears to have shifted. As a result, first flight of the sixth flight test aircraft, ZA006, the second General Electric GEnx-1B powered 787, has slid to August, says Fancher. Boeing confirms ZA003, which will represent the company at the Farnborough air show, and ZA001, have both required re-work of their horizontal stabilisers. In April a source at launch customer ANA indicated the carrier anticipated a slide in the schedule that could result in an early 2011 delivery. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ China establishes aviation industry fund China has established its first aviation industry fund, providing a major boost for local aircraft manufacturers trying to market aircraft to Chinese carriers. China Construction Bank says it has established the fund with China's state-owned aerospace conglomerate Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). The $1 billion yuan ($147 million) China Aviation Industry Fund plans to raise a further 5 billion yuan in the first phase, and 1.5 billion to 2.5 billion yuan in the second phase, it says, adding that its long-term objective is to raise 20 billion yuan. Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China VP Wu Guanghui was quoted by local media reports in March as saying that the authorities should establish an industry fund of at least 30 billion yuan to help Chinese carriers get financing for Chinese-built aircraft. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Boeing Shanghai Gains EASA MRO License The European Aviation Safety Agency granted Boeing Shanghai its EASA Part 145 maintenance license for line and heavy maintenance on Boeing 737NGs and 767-200/300 aircraft. The facility expected the certification in the first half of the year. This European certification follows regulatory approval from China, the U.S., Korea, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Bermuda. Earlier this year, a Boeing spokesman said the facility would apply for Japanese civil aviation approval "as well as other certifications as the international customer base expands." Boeing Shanghai, established in 2006, is a joint venture of Boeing, Shanghai Airport Authorities and Shanghai Airlines. The MRO opened a new two-bay hangar in October 2009. Its airline customers come from China, other parts of Asia, Europe and North America. http://www.aviationweek.com Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA urges caution in expanding use of unmanned aircraft Unmanned aircraft have higher accident rates than regular aircraft The FAA urges caution in expanding the use of pilotless planes in the United States An FAA official told a House subcommittee that the agency must make conservative decisions on the issue Washington (CNN) -- Unmanned aircraft patrolling the nation's borders have an accident rate seven times greater than general aviation aircraft, and hundreds of times greater than the rate of jetliners, federal officials said Thursday in urging caution in expanding the use of pilotless planes. Unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, have proven remarkably useful in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan, but are difficult to integrate into U.S. skies, the most complex airspace in the world, FAA official Nancy Kalinowski said in testimony before a House Homeland Security subcommittee. Kalinowski said the accident rates for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) aircraft are based on a relatively limited use of the planes -- only 5,688 flight hours. But because of the limited data, "the FAA must make conservative decisions" concerning integrating UAVs into U.S. skies, Kalinowski said. It is the FAA's responsibility to ensure the safety of other planes in the sky as well as people on the ground, she said. Increasingly, government agencies, police departments and private businesses have pushed the FAA for expanded use of UAVs. CBP currently operates six UAVs and will get a seventh by the end of the year. The CBP accident rate is 52.7 accidents per 100,000 flight hours, Kalinowski said. The accident rate for general aviation aircraft is 7.11 accidents per 100,000 flight hours, and 0.149 accidents for commercial aircraft. Public operators of UAVs such as the government and universities must obtain a special FAA certificate of waiver or authorization before operating in U.S. civil airspace. Civil users can get permits for research and development, demonstrations and crew training, but commercial UAV operations are not permitted at this time. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Homeland Security stymied by shortage of UAV pilots The Customs and Border Protection is relying more on unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol the U.S. borders, but the bureau has had trouble finding trained pilots to remotely fly the aircraft, a Homeland Security Department official told Congress on Thursday. The use of UAVs has expanded from primarily the military to homeland security, with CBP using the vehicles to scan the border for illegal immigrants and to support disaster relief operations. DHS patrols parts of both the southern and northern U.S. land borders as well as the maritime border, armed with long-range detection and tracking capabilities. CBP plans to steadily expand their use in coming years, and the Coast Guard also is investigating how it can use the aircraft. "The greatest near-term challenge faced is a shortage of pilots and sensor operators, specifically pilots certified to launch and land the aircraft," said Maj. Gen. Michael Kostelnik, assistant commissioner of CBP's Air and Marine Office. "There is a significant amount of competition among the DoD, industry and DHS to hire [UAV] pilots." He testified before the House Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism. DHS operates the unmanned vehicles from four control stations in Riverside, Calif.; Sierra Vista, Ariz.; Grand Forks, N.D.; and Cape Canaveral, Fla. To date, CBP has acquired seven aircraft, and has included funding for an eighth in its fiscal 2011 budget request. On June 23, the Federal Aviation Administration approved the flight of a UAV over 1,200 miles of the Texas-Mexico border, which allowed CBP to move forward with plans to permanently station one in the state and establish an additional control site at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas. "The limits aren't related to the aircraft right now. It's really the pilots -- the manned portion" of the program, said Kostelnik, who added two pilots should be stationed at the control station to support each aircraft. In fiscal 2009, CBP received funds to hire 24 pilots. Of those hired, only a few had significant experience with unmanned aerial systems, he said. The others currently are being trained. CBP doesn't plan to hire additional pilots in fiscal 2011 except to replace any pilots who retire, Kostelnik added. "UAVs are a force multiplier for our federal, state and local law enforcement as they provide the intelligence to help detect, disrupt and dismantle unlawful activity along our borders," said subcommittee Chairman Henry Cuellar, D-Texas. "[But] training pilots to fly these [vehicles] at home has proved difficult at a time when similar aircraft are being used in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We need to examine the challenges of training these pilots, the time it takes and what the necessary means are for fulfilling the future of this program." A number of subcommittee members encouraged Defense and DHS to share resources to support both departments UAV programs. Kostelnik conceded the recent establishment of a UAV executive steering committee with representatives from Defense, FAA, Homeland Security and NASA should address the need for governmentwide access to pilots and other resources. http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100715_2928.php?oref=topstory Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Honeywell: To Provide Flight Control Systems For Chinese Jet BEIJING (Dow Jones)--Honeywell International Inc. (HON) said Thursday it will provide the flight control systems for China's new domestically developed aircraft, in a deal that comes a week after the U.S. firm was tapped to provide wheels and brakes for the Chinese plane. Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd., or Comac, selected Honeywell to provide fly-by-wire systems, including complete autoflight systems with automatic landing capability, for its C919 single-aisle commercial aircraft, Honeywell said in a statement. A fly-by-wire system is an electronic interface that enables flight control computers to automatically stabilize the aircraft and perform other tasks. Honeywell said it also signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture with the Flight Automatic Control Research Institute to develop electronics systems for the C919. The institute falls under Aviation Industry Corp. of China, or AVIC, which is one of the shareholders of Comac. The state-controlled Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday the JV to be set up this year will be 50-50 held by Honeywell and the institute. As part of the fly-by-wire system agreement, the joint venture will be based in Xi'an and will have a registered capital of around US$32 million, Xinhua said. The two sides will also invest around US$100 million in total for research and development, with Honeywell contributing US$40 million, Xinhua said. Honeywell said its fly-by-wire flight control technology is already used in Comac's ARJ-21 regional jet. 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