Flight Safety Information July 14, 2016 - No. 137 In This Issue 'Severe Turbulence' Causes Southwest Pilot to Land Jet Early Pilots failed to notice aircraft's tail hitting Glasgow runway 2 planes collide at Minsk Airport due to stormy weather (Belarus) Chile issues report on Airbus A319 loss of engine cowlings incident Flight-following software 'not used as intended' as airplane hit by severe turbulence Congress passes Pilot's Bill of Rights The 2016 World Airline Awards are announced China's airlines added 171 new aircraft in 1H 2016 IS THE NAVY GOING TO REPLACE ITS HELICOPTERS WITH THIS PUNCHY AIRCRAFT? Why sales of Boeing's fabulous 777-300ER jet are stalled - and may not pick up EgyptAir expands fleet with 9 new Boeing 737s Russia reveals hypersonic stealth bomber that can launch nuclear attacks from space Airplane aerodynamics don't apply to insects ISASI 2016, Reykjavik, Iceland...17 to 20 October, 2016 'Severe Turbulence' Causes Southwest Pilot to Land Jet Early A Southwest passenger jet flying from Chicago to Texas was forced to land in Missouri Wednesday after encountering "severe turbulence" at 38,000 feet, the airline and FAA said. There were no injuries to any of the passenger or crew, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson said in a statement. Flight 1265 was flying from Chicago to Austin, Texas, and landed at Kansas City, Missouri "out of an abundance of caution" on the part of the flight crew, the airline said. A passenger on the plane described the anxious atmosphere, and said a few people screamed during the turbulence. "I was literally out of my seat for a few seconds as the plane was stabilizing," The passenger, Nick Dunbar, told NBC Chicago. "Safety is always our top priority at Southwest, and we appreciate the patience of our customers as we work diligently to get them on their way," Southwest spokesman Brian Parrish said in a statement. The FAA said the plane was a Boeing 737. The plane later took off from Kansas City and landed in Austin, according to the airline. A large section of the Midwest faced the potential for storms Wednesday as a cold front pushes east, the Weather Channel reported. Much of Illinois south of Chicago was under severe thunderstorm watches or warnings Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/severe-turbulence-forces-southwest-plane-land- jet-early-n608856 Back to Top Pilots failed to notice aircraft's tail hitting Glasgow runway Cabin crew heard 'unusual noise' when the British Airways flight landed at the airport. British Airways: Airline to conduct extra training after investigation Two pilots failed to notice when the tail of their aircraft hit the runway as they landed at Glasgow Airport, a report has found. The British Airways Airbus A321 was carrying 200 passengers from Heathrow when the incident happened around 9.30pm on July 19, 2015. After touching down, the aircraft "bounced slightly", after which its nose pitched up, according to a report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). During the second touchdown, the Airbus' tail hit the runway surface. No one was injured in the landing but the aircraft suffered "substantial" damage, although neither of the two pilots realised anything had gone wrong. An investigation was launched after members of the cabin crew reported an "unusual" noise on landing. A member of the public also called Glasgow's air traffic control after seeing sparks coming from the aircraft as it touched down. The AAIB report said: "It is difficult to pinpoint a precise reason why this tail strike occurred ... but it is likely to have been the result of a combination of factors." These include an airspeed that was too slow at time of landing and the aircraft's pitch continuing to increase after the first touchdown, investigators said. They also noted that the co-pilot - who was in control during the landing - recalled he had been told during training that the correct landing pitch was 11 degrees. The correct figure is actually 9.7 degrees. As a result of the investigation, BA has implemented further training for pilots and is looking into introducing an "experience restriction" for the A321. http://stv.tv/news/west-central/1360620-pilots-failed-to-notice-aircraft-s-tail-hitting- runway/ Back to Top 2 planes collide at Minsk Airport due to stormy weather (Belarus) Minsk national airport Several planes have been damaged by a storm at the airport in the capital of Belarus, with two aircraft colliding on the airfield. There have been no reports of injuries. The planes that collided belong to the Belarusian Belavia Airlines and the Ruby Star Air Carrier Company, pictures posted on social media show. Belavia officials have already confirmed to the local media that the company's airplanes were hit by the storm. "There are problems in the airport because of the storm," a Belavia representative told Belorussian Tut.by news portal, adding that "some aircraft are damaged, including ours." "There are no dead or injured from the incident," the company representatives added. There were no passengers onboard the two planes that collided, the Belavia press service told journalists. The airport press service said that several windows in the airport terminal had been smashed and a suspended ceiling system was deformed in several places due to rough wind and heavy rains. Several flights were also re-routed to alternate airport in the Belorussian city of Gomel, and another was re-routed to the city of Vilnius in neighboring Lithuania. The airport now is now operating as usual, the press service added. https://www.rt.com/news/350916-minsk-airport-planes-collide/ Back to Top Chile issues report on Airbus A319 loss of engine cowlings incident CC-AIC after landing The Chile DGCA concluded their investigation into an incident involving the loss of both engine cowlings on the engine of an Airbus A319. On October 20, 2015 an Airbus A319 of Sky Airline departed Santiago-Arturo Merino Benitez Airport in Chile on a domestic flight to Copiapó-Chamonate Airport. During takeoff from from runway 35R at 07:39 hours local time both cowlings on the no.1 CFMI CFM56- 5B5/P engine broke away. The aircraft circled back and landed safely on runway 35L at 08:04 hours. The investigation showed that prior to departure, the No.1 engine cowlings were opened by maintenance crew to check the oil levels of the Integral Drive Generator (IDG) and the filter differential pressure indicator. After this was completed, the cowlings were closed but not locked. The captain performed the walk around check but did not notice this. Aerodynamic forces during takeoff caused the cowlings to separate from the engine. The report did not detail the reasons why the cowlings were not locked or the reasons why the aircraft was released for service this way. This incident is (at least) the 39th event of the loss of an engine cowl door on an Airbus A320-family aircraft. The U.K. AAIB issued several safety recommendations in their July 2015 report of an accident involving Airbus A319 G-EUOE that lost the cowling doors on both engine on departure from London-Heathrow. Official accident investigation report investigating agency: Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC) - Chile report status: Final report number: Accidente 1751SP report released: 1 June 2016 duration of investigation: 231 days (8 months) download report: Final report (DGAC Chile Accidente 1751SP) http://news.aviation-safety.net/2016/07/13/chile-issues-report-on-airbus-a319-loss-of- engine-cowlings-incident/ Back to Top Flight-following software 'not used as intended' as airplane hit by severe turbulence in thunderstorm: TSB The Transportation Safety Board of Canada recently released an investigation report into a severe turbulence incident in southwestern Ontario, in which the crew of an American airline flew into a line of thunderstorms, temporarily lost control of their airplane and reacted "contrary to known aircraft upset recovery techniques." jet travelling through stormy skyOn September, 5, 2014, a crew with ExpressJet were flying an Embraer EMB-145LR on Flight 4538 from Grand Rapids, Mich. enroute to Newark Liberty International Airport, in New Jersey west of New York City. The flight went through Canadian airspace and the Toronto Area Control Centre reported the incident to TSB, the board said in an investigation report released July 6. ExpressJet operates scheduled flights as American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express. ExpressJet 4538 departed Grand Rapids at 6:45 p.m. and "deviated 50 nautical miles north-northeast of the airport," then turning east, "paralleling a line of thunderstorms south of its position." After 7 p.m., the airplane encountered severe turbulence west of London, Ont. The flight continued on to its final destination, in Newark, N.J. No one was injured. TSB found that at one point, in Canada, the crew lost control of the airplane, and the crew "momentarily applied flight control inputs that exacerbated the roll attitude of the aircraft." The crew "operated the aircraft through a mature thunderstorm," TSB stated in its investigation report. The EMB-145 is powered by two Rolls Royce AE3007 turbofan engines and carries 50 passengers, according to the United Airlines website. "The flight path reconstruction, when overlaid and time-synchronized with the graphical weather depiction, clearly indicated that the aircraft encountered the turbulent convective air associated with towering cumulonimbus clouds," TSB stated in its report. "The thunderstorms encountered during the occurrence were associated with a cold front," TSB added. "Frontal thunderstorms usually form a line that may extend for hundreds of miles. They pose a special hazard to pilots because they are often embedded in other cloud decks and are therefore impossible to see. An advancing line of frontal thunderstorms should be avoided." TSB noted that at 7:08 pm, the crew of ExpressJet 4538 "communicated with the company dispatch via the aircraft communication and recording system to request a route through the weather system, stating that they needed help picking their way through the storms and that the gaps between storm cells were closing quickly." However, "the flight-following software was not used as intended (i.e., as a proactive tool to avoid weather), but rather as a reactive response to a thunderstorm encounter," TSB stated. "Had the flight crew requested dispatch assistance earlier, a suggestion to help them avoid the weather system completely may have been provided." The company dispatcher "provided an opinion on which route to take, based on what he observed on his display and his assessment of the weather," TSB noted adding that according to the information available to the dispatcher, "the route was feasible, given the aircraft position and the location of the adverse weather." However, TBS obtained a depiction, as of 7:16 pm, from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's weather service, of the weather between Chicago and Toronto generated by a composite reflectivity radar source, using the maximum reflectivity from all of the multiple elevation angles. The TSB investigation depicts the difference between the NOAA map and ExpressJet's own flight-following/weather software. On the NOAA display," the thunderstorm was shown as larger and more contiguous than on the dispatcher's display," TSB stated in its report. "The difference in the 2 depictions was due in part to radar reflectivity types. The dispatcher's display is a base reflectivity product, which uses the lowest reflectivity angle, while the NOAA display shows a composite radar return, which uses the maximum reflectivity from all of the multiple elevation angles." At 7:16 p.m., after reaching 37,600 feet above sea level, "the aircraft pitched to 11° nose down and rolled 30° to the right," TSB noted. The turbulence continued and the aircraft encountered severe icing. It descended at 4,400 feet per minute and banked 42 degrees to the right. "Using the flight controls, the flight crew applied right roll inputs," TSB stated. "As a result, the right bank angle increased from 42° to 77°. The roll inputs by the flight crew during the uncommanded descent were contrary to known aircraft upset recovery techniques. The correct technique is to roll the aircraft in the shortest direction to wings- level." The airplane exceeded its maximum operating mach number (0.78), which TSB says is the "speed over which the aircraft encroaches on structural and aerodynamic design limits." The cockpit voice recorder was not quarantined after the flight and was overwritten, TSB noted. As a result of an internal investigation, ExpressJet "has improved the dispatcher use of flight-following software," TSB stated. "Additional focus has been placed on using the lightning-strike functionality of the weather portion of the software." http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/insurance/flight-following-software-not-used- intended-airplane-hit-severe-turbulence-thunderstorm-tsb-1004096786/ Back to Top Congress passes Pilot's Bill of Rights By: Bob Collins Over the last few years, I've occasionally described why pilots don't seek treatment for various medical conditions, primarily fear that they'll lose the medical certification required to fly general aviation aircraft. This week, Congress solved that problem, passing legislation that included a provision - called the Pilot's Bill of Rights - hailed by the largest lobbying organization for pilots as the most significant legislation victory for general aviation in decades. It's in a temporary reauthorization bill for the FAA that's on its way to President Barack Obama's desk. Under the current system, general aviation pilots 40 and over need to be examined by an FAA doctor every two years (this would be in addition to any physical exams by the pilot's own physician). And the list of disqualifying conditions is a long one. As I've described before, I've got one - Meniere's Disease, which disqualifies me from flying unless I jump through various and expensive hoops to get an annual "special issuance," a system which allowed me to donate almost $1,000 to the Mayo Clinic a couple of years ago to satisfy the paperwork requirements to get one. An FAA form that asks pilots about medical conditions. Pilots often withhold information for fear they'll lose their right to fly. Just about every pilot of a certain age has something that might disqualify them at some point, which is one reason why more than a few experts believe general aviation in the U.S. is dying. A lot of pilots don't bother; they just stop flying, a reality that has crushed the general aviation industry. Under the new legislation, most pilots who've held an FAA medical certificate within 10 years of the law being signed won't need to visit the FAA doctor anymore, unless they fly with five or more passengers. New pilots will only need an FAA exam once. A pilot will still need to be examined by a state-licensed doctor once every four years. "These reforms put decisions about medical care back into the hands of pilots and their personal physicians, people who know them well and have an ongoing interest in their health and well-being," Mark Baker, the Minnesota native who heads the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said in a news release. Pilots will need a driver's license, apparently under the theory that if you're healthy enough to drive a car, you're healthy enough to fly an airplane. Les Abend, an airline pilot and columnist for Flying Magazine, isn't all that thrilled with the notion. "I am well aware that, to some degree, truthfulness has always been required," he recently wrote of the current system. "Certainly under current law the potential still exits in failing to disclose prescriptions, medical professional visits and so on. But under the proposed legislation, 10 years is a long time, especially for those of us having reached the age when health issues become a typical part of our lives. And never having to be examined by an AME, ever? Hmm ... it doesn't leave me feeling warm and fuzzy." Abend says flying is expensive as it is, and spending money "maintaining and monitoring our health seems like a small price to pay." Once President Obama signs the legislation, the FAA will have a year to implement the new rules. The FAA reauthorization bill also dealt a setback to Republicans in the House, who had hoped to privatize the nation's air traffic control system. http://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/2016/07/congress-passes-pilots-bill-of-rights/ Back to Top The 2016 World Airline Awards are announced In a gala ceremony held at Farnborough Airshow, Skytrax today presented the 2016 World Airline Awards. The leaders and top management from over 40 airlines from across the globe attended the event, where Emirates was voted the World's Best Airline by air travellers. At the awards event, Edward Plaisted of Skytrax commented: "we are honoured to have so many airlines travel here today and receive their accolades after being voted as Best Airlines in many different categories. For many years we have been dedicated to providing a survey and awards process that remains independent, and delivering an event that is aptly known as the Passenger's Choice Awards. We have seen many familiar names here today appearing as repeat winners, which I guess reflects that in many cases 'once a winner, always a winner' in many customers eyes. The full Results can be viewed at » World Airline Awards. The World's Top 10 Airlines of 2016 Emirates Qatar Airways Singapore Airlines Cathay Pacific ANA All Nippon Airways Etihad Airways Turkish Airlines EVA Air Qantas Airways Lufthansa http://www.airlinequality.com/news/2016-world-airline-awards-announced/ Back to Top China's airlines added 171 new aircraft in 1H 2016 Chinese airlines introduced 171 new aircraft in the first six months of 2016, including the first Boeing 787 deliveries to Air China and Hainan Airlines. China's airlines operated a total fleet of 2,795 aircraft as of June 30, 2016. The 171 new additions to the fleet in the first half of the year were led by 72 Airbus A320 family aircraft and 64 737-800s. Tibet Airlines introduced its first widebody aircraft during the year's first half, an A330- 200 with a 242 tonne maximum take-off-weight (MTOW). China Southern Airlines took delivery of 12 new aircraft during the year's first six months, expanding its fleet to 512 aircraft. China Eastern Airlines introduced 28 new aircraft, growing its fleet to 437 aircraft. Air China took delivery of 15 aircraft, increasing its fleet to 356 aircraft. Hainan Airlines introduced eight new aircraft, expanding its fleet to 161 aircraft. Xiamen Airlines took delivery of 12 new aircraft, growing its fleet to 141 aircraft. Chinese carriers also phased out 31 aircraft in the 2016 first half. http://atwonline.com/airframes/china-s-airlines-added-171-new-aircraft-1h-2016 Back to Top IS THE NAVY GOING TO REPLACE ITS HELICOPTERS WITH THIS PUNCHY AIRCRAFT? THE ARMY IS ALREADY PLANNING ON IT V-280 Valor Bell Helicopter V-280 Valor V280 Concept Art The V-22 Osprey is an iconic airplane - perhaps the most distinctive modern military plane that wasn't made to release weapons. With two giant propellers that pivot, the V-22 can fly like an airplane but takeoff and land like a helicopter, making it more versatile than either category. Right now, the V-22 is only used by the US Marine Corps and the Air Force, but the United States Army wants its next troop-carrying helicopter replacement to be a tiltrotor too. The Army is already funding work on the V-280 Valor, which would work like an Osprey, and could also be adapted into an attack craft, too. This week, Bell Helicopter, the makers of the V-280 Valor pitched their new vehicle to the Navy, too. From DoD Buzz: But Bell's vice president of advanced tiltrotor systems, Vince Tobin, told reporters at the show Tuesday that the company had already begun designing a V-280 variant that would fit aboard ships' hangar decks in hopes of luring the Navy into buying the aircraft as well. In the Navy variant, the wide wings rotate to better fit on a ship and the tail is anhedral, facing down, in contrast to the Army variant's dihedral tail, Tobin said. "The purpose of the anhedral tail is not to have to fold the tail to get it out of the way of the folding wings," he said. The prospective Navy design is just a concept for now, but Tobin said it points to the flexibility available to the service. As DoD Buzz reports, Tobin went on to say that putting a folding wing on the helicopter, as the Navy wants (in order to fit on aircraft carriers), means increasing the weight of the Valor by 12 percent. This limits how much it could carry in the future. Already, the current design of the Valor has a maximum takeoff weight of 30,000 pounds, which is just more than half that of the V-22's 52,000 pounds. So the Valor's carrying capacity would decline even further if the wings were redesigned to fit on the Navy's aircraft carriers. But the Navy may still want to go to a tiltrotor anyway. When the Army began looking for a new helicoper design, tiltrotor versatility won out over other concepts. Besides carrying troops, the Army is considering using the Valor as a small attack helicopter, supplementing its existing fleet with a faster-flying craft. Speed isn't everything in battle, but it's a lot, and a chopper that can reach where it's needed faster does a lot. If the Navy is looking to upgrade their helicopter fleet, piggybacking on an Army project isn't the worst idea. Especially if you're Bell Helicopter. http://www.popsci.com/valor-navy-maybe Back to Top Why sales of Boeing's fabulous 777-300ER jet are stalled - and may not pick up Boeing 777s in various stages of completion at the final assembly factory in Everett, Washington. (Mike Siegel/Seattle Times) At the Farnborough Air Show, the world's biggest owner of widebody jets explains why he's not buying any more current 777s, an analysis that has sobering near-term implications for Boeing's finances and the outlook for workers in Everett. Boeing's 777-300ER, widely admired as the most efficient and best large twin-engined jet available today, isn't going to get a single new sale from the world's biggest owner of widebody jets. Aengus Kelly, chief executive of giant aircraft leasing company Aercap, owns 69 Boeing 777s and says "it's a great airplane." But he isn't interested in buying any more of those 365-seat jets from Boeing. "You are going to lose money if you buy that airplane brand new," Kelly said. "You'd be better off buying one that's 10 or 12 years old." Kelly's analysis has sobering near-term implications for Boeing's finances and its Everett workforce over the next three years. Of course, it's to his advantage if an airline is persuaded to lease a used 777 from him rather than buy new from Boeing. But for sure the sale of new current-model 777s has nose-dived since Boeing launched the new 777X variant in 2013. The new airplane on the way means the 777-300ER - great airplane as it is - is slipping toward the end of its production. With sales drying up, empty 777 delivery slots yawn ahead in 2017 through 2019. Each empty slot is a plane scheduled to be built, but no buyer lined up for it. Boeing needs to sell 4o to 60 each year if it is to bridge the gap to the 777X. It has sold just a dozen so far this year, with no new orders announced at the Farnborough Air Show. Kelly's reasoning gives a clue as to why. He said Boeing could sell more of the current model 777s only if it dropped the price very significantly. But it cannot do that for fear of cannibalizing 777X sales, he said. Buyers would say, "Why would I ever pay $200 million plus for a 777X?" Boeing "would be borrowing... sales from the future," Kelly said. "It would be an extremely expensive loan to take, to shore up the near term at the expense of the new program in the long term." "That's the tension Airbus and Boeing always face when they launch a new product. Sure, I can sell the last of the (old model) line, but at what price? Does it mean I lose sales of the new airplane?" he said. So while Boeing's sales team is trying to fill the sales gap to the 777X, Kelly said "there's a price where you don't fill it. You just cut production." "They could certainly sell more if they wanted to. We'd buy them at the right price. But Boeing won't sell at that price," he added. "The reason they won't is, it'll damage sales of the X." In Kelly's unsentimental leasing world, an airplane is above all a machine to make money for its operator. With a new generation of even more efficient large widebody jets coming - the Airbus A350-1000 in 2017 and the 777X in 2020 - he doesn't believe a current 777-300ER, bought new today, will still be flying in 25 years time, which is the jet's anticipated lifetime for valuation purposes. Boeing vice president of marketing Randy Tinseth disagreed. "It's hard for me to imagine that the best-selling airplane in widebody history would not hold its value," Tinseth said. "We have customers who have large fleets of 777s who could fit -300ERs into their operations seamlessly and fly them very profitably for many years ahead." "We're focused on filling our production in the back half of 2017 and in 2018," Tinseth added. If Kelly is right and Boeing fails to fill those holes, it will have to cut production. That means job losses in Everett, though pending rate increases on the 787 and 767 lines will take up some of the slack. The 777 has been a cash cow for Boeing and is produced at a rate of 8.3 per month, or 100 per year. Executives have already said they'll cut the production flow rate to 7 per month next year, with the number of jets actually built running lower than that as gaps are inserted in the line to accommodate slower work on the first 777Xs. Kelly's thinking, and the very slow sales this year, suggest further orders will be hard to come by. http://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/why-sales-of-boeings-fabulous- 777-300er-jet-are-stalled-and-may-not-pick-up/ Back to Top EgyptAir expands fleet with 9 new Boeing 737s Meanwhile, Airbus has won an order from Indian low-priced airline Go Air for 72 A320neo aircraft, as well as secured another order from Germania Group for 25 A320neos. China's Xiamen Airlines signed an agreement to buy 30 Boeing 737 Max 200 planes valued at $3.39 billion at list price. Through Wednesday morning, Airbus has announced 262 orders, compared with 102 for Boeing, according to a count at The Wall Street Journal. Boeing added that it has also finalised a deal to sell six 787-9 Dreamliners, worth $1.59 billion at list prices, to Chinese carrier Ruili Airlines. Kunming Airlines, based at Changshui International Airport in the capital city of Yunnan province, began operations in 2009. Boeing had only received 121 orders valued at $13.7 billion as of Tuesday, excluding a pre-announced 747 deal. GoAir, among eight budget airlines operating in India, is one of only three carriers worldwide that have begun using the Neo upgrade of the A320, so that a follow-on order would provide a vote of confidence in a model dogged by issues with its Pratt & Whitney turbines since past year. The trend is prompting low-priced operators that have already amassed large order backlogs to add even more planes. The bulk of deals at Farnborough and the Paris show with which it alternates come on the first two business days, though more announcements are possible today. Fernandes said his airline, which now has ordered a total of 575 Airbus jets, saw brisk growth across the region and could have bought even more. FARNBOROUGH, England-Airbus Group SE's jetliner boss Fabrice Bregier Wednesday said the European plane maker will have to secure a further 250 to 300 orders after this week to meet its full-year target. "When you have greater discretionary spending it's been proven that you buy airline tickets with it", Leahy said, adding that by 2035, 75 percent of people in what are now viewed as emerging nations will be taking at least one flight a year. The jet - which has four engines - has a list price of $432.6-million but it has not registered any sales yet at the week-long Farnborough event. Liquor baron Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. was the most recent carrier to stop flying in 2012 after defaulting on payments to banks, vendors, airports and staff. SpiceJet was nearly about to go down that path in December 2014, when it grounded the fleet for a day after oil companies refused to fuel its planes on credit, before retrenching and bouncing back. But it said that reducing production is a prudent step in view of current order trends. http://christiannewstoday.com/business/egyptair-expands-fleet-with-9-new-boeing-737s- 2/25004 Back to Top Russia reveals hypersonic stealth bomber that can launch nuclear attacks from space: Radical plane could begin testing in 2020 * Test model of craft known as PAK-DA could fly in 2020 * Hypersonic engine for the craft believed to have been already tested * Would be able to travel anywhere in the world in two hours Russia's next generation hypersonic stealth nuclear bomber could fly by 2020, it has been claimed. Military bosses claim the engine for the craft has already been tested, and a prototype could take to the air in six years. It would be able to travel anywhere in the world in two hours and drop a devastating nuclear warhead before returning to base, it is claimed. The test engine is expected to be showcased at the Army-2016 International Military Technology Forum, which is set to take place on September 6-11 in the Moscow Region. Colonel-General Sergei Karakayev, commander of Russian Strategic Missile Forces, confirmed the model engine for the bomber has been built and successfully tested at the Serpukhovo branch of the Military Academy. 'An engine for a promising space plane has been developed at Strategic Rocket Forces Academy,' General Sergey Karakaev, RVSN's commander, told reporters on Wednesday. 'The unit's operational ability had been proven,' he said, according to The Observer. 'The idea is that the bomber will take off from a normal home airfield to patrol Russian airspace. Upon command it will ascend into outer space, strike a target with nuclear warheads and then return to its home base.' Colonel Alexei Solodovniko, the project's general contractor as well as a professor of Strategic Missile Forces at the Military Academy, told RIA Novosti. A prototype of a next generation Russian vbomber design being wind tunnel tested 'We are cooperating with Russia's Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute on the design of an airframe and the aircraft's characteristics. 'I think that its lift-off mass must be 20-25 metric tons for it to be a strike aircraft. It will [be able to accelerate to] hypersonic speed in rocket mode,' he added. Two engines-one for the airplane and another for the spaceship-will be combined within the bomber's engine setting. According to the Academy of Strategic Missiles Forces, in plane mode, the engine will use kerosene fuel. For space flight, it will use methane and oxygen. British Reaction Reaction Engines says its hypersonic engine will also take to the skies by 2020. The European Space Agency has invested $11 million toward the development of an engine that could one day allow aircraft to fly anywhere in the world in just four hours. Russia's new bomber will launch nuclear warheads from space Oxfordshire-based Reaction Engines has been developing a turbine that combines both jet and rocket technologies to achieve rates five times the speed of sound. According to the firm, the new agreement with the ESA and the UK Space Agency, along with the existing partnership with BAE Systems, means that the first ground demonstrator engine could be ready for testing by 2020. The European Space Agency has invested $11 million toward the development of a new type of engine that could one day allow aircraft to fly anywhere in the world in just four hours. Pictured, an artist's impression of the Lapcat A2 craft flying at Mach 5. Reaction Engines announced today that it has secured over $66 million in funding from the British government, with more than $55 million from the UK Space Agency, and the ESA contribution acting as the final piece. The revolutionary Sabre engine could allow aircraft to take off from a runway and accelerate to five times the speed of sound, before switching to a rocket mode, propelling it into orbit. This design could also be used to send satellites into space at a fraction of the current cost. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3689325/Russia-reveals-hypersonic- stealth-bomber-launch-nuclear-attacks-space-Radical-plane-begin-testing- 2020.html#ixzz4EMzgaFTu Back to Top Airplane aerodynamics don't apply to insects Flying insects don't obey the same laws of aerodynamics as planes do, new research finds. This could explain why even the best pilots can't match the insects' maneuvers. "We've known for quite a while that the aerodynamic theory for airplanes doesn't work so well in predicting the force of lift for flapping wings," says Leif Ristroph, an assistant professor at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences who directed the study. "We found that the drag or wind resistance also behaves very differently, and we put together a new law that could help explain how insects move through the air." "To double its flight speed, an airplane must increase its thrust four-fold to counter the stronger wind resistance," Ristroph explains. "In contrast, we found that flapping wings have a drag that is in direct proportion to its flight speed-to go twice as fast, an insect simply needs to double its thrust." The significance of aerodynamic drag and its strong increase with speed has been known since before the Wright brothers took flight. This fact is summarized by a mathematical law that posits wind resistance increases as the square of speed; hence, moving twice as fast requires four times the thrust to overcome the higher drag. Hummingbirds and bugs share flight tricks Previous studies of flying insects, which beat their wings hundreds of times a second, suggested that these creatures do not obey this same relationship. To make this sense of this discrepancy, the researchers in the Applied Math Lab built a robotic wing apparatus for measuring the motions, flows, and forces. The apparatus allowed the team to compare steady motions of a wing, as would occur for airplane flight, to the maneuvers of insects, in which their wings flap as they move through air. Dragonfly makes annual 4,400-mile suicide mission The team's results show that the back-and-forth motions cause the drag to resist the movement in some instances; however, at other times the drag is actually directed forward, more like a thrust. The net force that results depends on the flight speed as well as the flapping motions, all of which the authors include in a new drag law. This law may not be news to insects, which have been flying with flapping wings for hundreds of millions of years. But the authors think that their findings could help guide the design of tiny flying robots that mimic the wing motions of insects. The study appears in the journal Physical Review Fluids. Source: New York University http://www.futurity.org/insects-aerodynamics-1199692-2/ Back to Top ISASI 2016, Reykjavik, Iceland 17 to 20 October, 2016 The International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) will hold their 47th annual seminar at the Grand Hotel Reykjavik, Iceland, from the 17 to 20 October 2016. The seminar theme is: "Every link is important" Papers will address this theme in conjunction with other contemporary matters on aviation safety investigation, including recent case studies, new investigation methods and aviation safety trends or developments. Registration and details of the main seminar, tutorial and companion programmes are available at www.esasi.eu/isasi-2016. We look forward to seeing you in Iceland Curt Lewis