Flight Safety Information August 29, 2016 - No. 169 In This Issue FAA Tightens Safeguards on Lithium Batteries on Airplanes Southwest Air Jet Diverted After Damage From Engine Failure NTSB probes Southwest 737 uncontained engine failure 'MH370 debris' found off Mozambique coast suggests jet EXPLODED & was 'out of control' Airline pilots arrested on alcohol charge at Glasgow Airport A350 Strikes Jetbridge (Helsinki) ANA Boeing-787 Cracked Windshield (Near Naha) ANA Makes Progress On Boeing 787 Engine Fix Mitsubishi Regional Jet test plane aborts flight to Washington state for a second day Nepal's Simrik Airlines secures ASL renewal; resumes ops Falcon Air Express loses bid to resume ops USAIG Launches Safety Program for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Textron Aviation to move Cessna Caravan work southeast Air New Zealand Advances 767 Phaseout Pentagon weapons tester: F-35 fighter jet has 'significant' problems Wheels up for China's new aero-engine group Envoy Air partners with Ohio State to train future pilots Embry-Riddle Prescott's Industrial Psychology and Safety Program Secures No. 1 Ranking in U.S. Five steps to success...How to improve America's dismal airlines TODAY'S PHOTO Experimental Glider to Attempt Record-Breaking Flight Into Space NASA's "Spinoff" is the Coolest Magazine You've Never Read GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY (3) ISASI 2016, Reykjavik, Iceland...17 to 20 October, 2016 (ISASI) DFW Regional Chapter (DFRC) Summer Meeting, September 8, 2016 FAA Tightens Safeguards on Lithium Batteries on Airplanes Regulators relying on lessons learned from earlier problems with batteries to spell out safety rules Boeing Co. was forced to redesign its 787 Dreamliner passenger aircraft batteries by installing them inside rugged metal, fireproof containers after fire-prone lithium batteries led to a temporary grounding of the fleet three years ago. By ANDY PASZTOR Three years after fire-prone lithium batteries led to the temporary grounding of Boeing Co.'s flagship 787 fleet world-wide, U.S. regulators are ratcheting up safety standards, as they approve use of various types of lithium power cells on different airliners and business aircraft. Reflecting this new approach, the recent approvals cover nonrechargeable lithium batteries, which industry officials said are used to power everything from emergency exit signs to cockpit equipment to emergency underwater locator devices. The batteries that prompted so much public attention on 787 Dreamliners, by contrast, are larger, more powerful and rely on rechargeable technology to provide backup electric power. Still, government documents highlight that many of the identified risks are similar between the two categories of batteries. U.S. regulators are relying on lessons learned from earlier problems with 787 batteries to spell out safety rules for a wider array of new applications for nonrechargeable versions on a number of other models. Details of the Federal Aviation Administration's decisions reflect that "everyone is now much, much more aware of the issue" in the wake of the prominent incidents with Boeing 787s, according to Joe DePete, who heads up safety efforts at the Air Line Pilots Association. Lithium batteries are lighter, contain more energy and generally require less maintenance than nickel-cadmium or other traditional batteries. But experts describe them as more flammable, and recognize they may be prone to internal short-circuits, overcharging or other malfunctions that can result in fires or explosive release of gases. When the FAA initially approved the 787 battery systems for backup power, both government and industry officials relied primarily on engineering and mathematical analyses to support Boeing's conclusions that the batteries wouldn't smolder or catch fire even under operations considered extremely remote. Ultimately, Boeing was forced to redesign its 787 batteries by installing them inside rugged metal, fireproof containers that preclude flames or hazardous chemicals escaping under any circumstances, regardless of how unlikely those might be. Venting tubes are intended to carry smoke, flames or vapors outside the plane. Now, U.S. regulators are mandating similarly tough safeguards and fail-safe conditions for other applications. Over the past two weeks, the FAA has issued or proposed rules, known as "special conditions," spelling out strict safety standards for nonrechargeable lithium batteries for certain Boeing 737 jets; cargo and tanker versions of the company's 767 models; and some modified, propeller-powered PC-12 business aircraft originally manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. In every case, the FAA is requiring safety systems able to be certified to keep dangerously high temperatures, flames or gases from damaging aircraft under any circumstances. As part of its 767 rules, for instance, the FAA said battery designs should be intended "to eliminate the potential for uncontrolled failures." But since "a certain number of failures will occur due to various factors beyond the control of the designer," according to the document, other safeguards are needed "to protect the airplane and its occupants if failure occurs." The agency also determined that such protections are essential, partly because "service history shows that battery failure is not extremely remote." The FAA and European plane maker Airbus Group SE are locked in a dispute over rechargeable lithium batteries used for backup power on the latest versions of A350 jetliners. European regulators have signed off on the design, which Airbus contends has more built-in safeguards than rechargeable batteries used on 787s. Airbus is balking at FAA demands that the batteries should be encased in the same type of protective metal shielding now required for 787 jetliners. The moves come as a joint industry-government panel, under the auspices of the FAA's outside technical advisory organization, is wrapping up work on comprehensive new standards for lithium batteries. The result is expected to be tougher laboratory testing requirements before new systems go into service. Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com http://www.wsj.com/articles/faa-tightens-safeguards-on-lithium-batteries-on-jetliners- smaller-planes-1472302614 Back to Top Southwest Air Jet Diverted After Damage From Engine Failure U.S. safety board probes incident on plane carrying 104 people A Southwest Airlines Co. jet was forced to make an emergency landing after the cabin lost pressure due to what federal officials called a rare uncontained engine failure. No one was injured on Flight 3472 from New Orleans to Orlando, Florida, when the Boeing Co. 737 was diverted Saturday to Pensacola International Airport in Florida, an spokesman said by e-mail, citing an unknown mechanical issue. A photo posted on Twitter Inc. by the Southwest pilots union showed the plane in flight with the front of the left nacelle, as the casing is formally known, torn off to expose the engine inside. In an uncontained failure, debris escapes the hardened engine casing and can damage or penetrate the wings or fuselage, amplifying the risk to the aircraft far beyond the loss of thrust. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said in a Twitter posting that it is investigating. The flight landed without incident at 10:40 a.m. New York time, after roughly a half-hour in the air, according to airline data-tracker FlightAware.com. There were no indications of injuries among the 99 passengers and five crew members on board, the spokesman said. Southwest notified the safety board of the incident and, when authorized, will inspect the plane to assess the damage. The aircraft is out of service, and Dallas-based Southwest said it is working to get the passengers to Orlando or their final destination as soon as possible. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-27/southwest-air-flight-diverted- after-uncontained-engine-failure ******************** Date: Saturday 27 August 2016 Time: ca 09:22 Type: Boeing 737-7H4 (WL) Operator: Southwest Airlines Registration: N766SW C/n / msn: 29806/537 First flight: 2000-04-12 (16 years 5 months) Engines: 2 CFMI CFM56-7B24 Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 99 Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 104 Airplane damage: Substantial Location: near Pensacola, FL ( United States of America) Phase: En route (ENR) Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: New Orleans International Airport, LA (MSY/KMSY), United States of America Destination airport: Orlando International Airport, FL (MCO/KMCO), United States of America Flightnumber: WN3472 Narrative: A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (WL) operating flight WN3472 suffered an in-flight loss of an engine air inlet cowl near Biloxi, Mississippi. A safe diversion was carried out. The airplane departed New Orleans International Airport, Louisiana at 09:10 hours local time for a flight to Orlando International Airport, Florida. While climbing through FL310, about 26 km south off Biloxi, the air inlet cowl of the nr.1 engine broke away. The flight contacted Houston Center about 09:22, stating: "engine failure...we've lost number one engine, we're descending". Initially the flight was cleared down to FL260. The flight then radioed "472 we need get down below ten". The flight was then cleared down to FL240 and the flight again stated that they needed to get down to 10000 feet. While descending the crew made two unintentional transmissions to Houston Center in which they can be heard working the related emergency checklist with a sound indicating the possible use of oxygen masks by the crew. The flight then diverted to Pensacola were it landed about 09:40. After landing damage was observed to the wing leading edge, between the engine and the fuselage and a tear in the fuselage. This was the aircraft's first flight of the day after having stayed overnight at New Orleans after arriving from Houston at 22:37. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20160827-0 Back to Top NTSB probes Southwest 737 uncontained engine failure The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says it is investigating an uncontained engine failure on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 that diverted to Pensacola earlier today. The aircraft was operating flight 3472 from New Orleans to Orlando when the flight crew diverted following a "mechanical issue" with the aircraft's number one engine, says the Dallas-based carrier. The flight landed safely at Pensacola at 09:40 Central Time. No injuries were reported among the 99 passengers and five crew members, says Southwest. Photos posted on social media show extensive damage to the aircraft's CFM International CFM56 powerplant. "We have notified the NTSB, and when authorised, we will be inspecting the aircraft to assess the damage," says the airline. The aircraft involved in the incident is registered N766SW, and was built in 2000, Flight Fleets Analyzer shows. It had accumulated more than 57,200h and 33,400 cycles as of April. www.flightglobal.com Back to Top 'MH370 debris' found off Mozambique coast suggests jet EXPLODED & was 'out of control' OBLITERATED plane wreckage found on a beach in Mozambique, believed to be part of crashed jet MH370, has led experts to suggest that the plane exploded and was not under the control of a pilot when it crashed. A shard of wreckage, believed to be from missing jet MH370, was found on a beach in Malaysia The mangled triangular piece of debris is said to be part of missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which reportedly crashed in the southern Indian Ocean on March 8 2014, killing 239 people. The shard of wreckage, which is a metre wide and long, was found on the east coast of Mozambique by a South African tour operator, Jean Viljoen. Mr Viljoen described it as "kind of almost like a triangular shape" and has handed it in to local police who are now investigating. The wreckage is so badly damaged and mangled experts believe it proves the plane did not land softly at sea under the control of a pilot as has been assumed, but may have exploded instead. Some theorists believe pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah deliberately crashed the airline into the ocean, committing suicide and bringing passengers down with him in a violent crash. But others suggest that the plane may have caught fire or suffered an explosive technical glitch after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing, with Zaharie and his co-pilot, Fariq Abdul Hamid, becoming unconscious, flying on auto-pilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean. The damaged nature of the wreckage, indicating an explosion, may support both theories. The shard is the latest piece of wreckage believed to belong to the controversial plane, after several parts have been discovered recently off the African coast that are believed to have drifted 2000km from the suspected crash site at sea to south eastern Australia. Mike Exner, a member of IG - the Independent Group tasked with investigating the aircraft's disappearance - is confident that the latest piece of wreckage does in fact belong to MH370 as it is said to resemble the tail of a Boeing 77 - the same aircraft carrier as MH370. Mr Exner says the shard has a Boeing identification number, leaving little questions that it is from the missing jet, as no other 777s have come down in the Indian Ocean. Australian aviation writer Ben Sandilands states the piece of wreckage puts an end to theories that the plane glided smoothly into the Indian Ocean. He said: "Whatever part of the jet it comes from, the extensive damage carried by the piece of suspected wreckage is inconsistent with widely-promoted theories that MH370 was landed under pilot control." http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/704811/MH370-debris-found-off-Mozambique- coast-suggests-jet-EXPLODED-was-out-of-control Back to Top Airline pilots arrested on alcohol charge at Glasgow Airport The flight eventually left with a replacement flight crew Two airline pilots were arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol as they prepared to fly from Glasgow Airport to New York. The United Airlines pilots, aged 35 and 45, were held in the cockpit by police ahead of the 09:00 flight on Saturday. Their jet, which was headed for Newark Airport, had started boarding its 141 passengers. It eventually took off at 19:15 with a new flight crew on board. The men are expected to appear at Paisley Sheriff Court on Monday. Police Scotland said the pilots were arrested in connection with alleged offences under the Railways and Transport/Safety Act 2003 (Section 93). This covers "carrying out pilot function or activity while exceeding the prescribed limit of alcohol". United Airlines said the pilots, both believed to be US citizens, had been removed from service and their flying duties pending an investigation. A spokesman said the safety of customers and crew "is their highest priority". Two Canadian pilots appeared in court earlier in July after being arrested at Glasgow Airport on suspicion of being impaired through alcohol. Captain Jean-Francois Perreault, aged 39, and Imran Zafar Syed, who is 37, were due to fly an Air Transat plane with 345 passengers and nine crew on board. They were released on bail and are due to return to court at a later date. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-37208114 Back to Top A350 Strikes Jetbridge (Helsinki) Date: 28-AUG-2016 Time: ca 06:56 Type: Airbus A350-941 Owner/operator: Finnair Registration: OH-LWA C/n / msn: 18 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Minor Location: Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL/EFHK) - Finland Phase: Taxi Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Hong Kong-Chek Lap Kok International Airport (HKG/VHHH) Destination airport: Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL/EFHK) Narrative: An Airbus A350-941 operated by Finnair as flight AY70 hit the air bridge at Helsinki- Vantaa Airport, Finland as the aircraft taxied into position at the arrival gate (gate 33 at Terminal 2). The no.1 engine air inlet cowl was damaged. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=189623 Back to Top ANA Boeing-787 Cracked Windshield (Near Naha) Date: 28-AUG-2016 Time: 03:10 Type: Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner Owner/operator: All Nippon Airways ANA Registration: JA874A C/n / msn: 34503/358 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 214 Other fatalities: 0 Airplane damage: Minor Location: near Ishigaki island, Okinawa prefecture - Japan Phase: En route Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Tokyo International Airport/Haneda (HND/RJTT), Japan Destination airport: Singapore Changi Airport (SIN/WSSS), Singapore Narrative: A windshield in front of the captain's seat was cracked when a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner of All Nippon Airways operating flight ANA/NH843 from Tokyo/Haneda to Singapore with 214 people on board was en route near Ishigaki island at 03:10 JST. The flight crew decided to divert to Naha Airport (OKA/ROAH), and the airplane made a safe landing at 04:15 JST. There were no reported injuries. The Flightradar24.com record suggests that the Dreamliner cruised at FL400 with 500 knots of the ground speed at the time of the incident. Back to Top ANA Makes Progress On Boeing 787 Engine Fix All Nippon Airways (ANA) has six of its Boeing 787s out of action as it continues inspections due to concerns about turbine blade erosion in the fleet's Rolls-Royce engines. The airline intends to progressively inspect its 787 engines and replace turbine blades, the carrier tells Aviation Daily. The six aircraft currently grounded are part of this process, which has caused the carrier to cancel several domestic flights in recent days. So far ANA has replaced turbine blades on 17 engines, out of the total of 100 engines on its 50 787-8s and -9s. The carrier says it has "identified that multiple engines need to be serviced." ANA uses the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines in its 787 fleet. "ANA is continuously receiving information from Rolls-Royce, [which] is further investigating these issues," says ANA. Rolls-Royce is also "developing a new type of turbine blade, which will be completed by the end of 2016," the airline says. A Rolls-Royce spokesman says the company is "aware of the situation and [is] working closely with ANA to minimize the effect on aircraft service disruption." He adds that "this is an accelerated ongoing service management program that relates only to a limited proportion of the ANA fleet involved in domestic operations." The issue came to light after ANA experienced inflight engine problems three times since February. The first flight was from Kuala Lumpur to Narita in February, the second from Hanoi to Tokyo in March and the third on a Japanese domestic route earlier this month. The airline identified the cause as erosion and cracking of turbine blades. Industry sources believe the issue is with the coating of the intermediate pressure turbine blades. ANA canceled nine domestic flights on Aug. 29, as well as a total of nine flights through the end of August. The airline previously predicted it may have to cancel about 10 flights per day through at least the end of September. www.aviationweek.com Back to Top Mitsubishi Regional Jet test plane aborts flight to Washington state for a second day A model of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) passenger aircraft is displayed in front of subassembly components of the forward fuselage section and fuselage section for the company's aircraft during a media preview at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works Tobishima Plant in Tobishima Village, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Saturday, Sept. (MRJ) passenger aircraft is displayed in front of subassembly components of the forward fuselage section and fuselage section for the company's aircraft during a media preview at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works Tobishima Plant in Tobishima Village, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013. (Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg) The first Mitsubishi Regional Jet headed to Washington's Moses Lake for fligh testing had to abort its flight from Japan for a second straight day due to problems with an air- conditioning system. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' regional jet aircraft aborted a test flight from Japan to Washington state for the second straight day due to problems with an air-conditioning system. The aircraft, Japan's first passenger plane developed at home in more than a half century, landed back in Nagoya at 3:13 p.m. after taking off from the airport just before 1 p.m, according to company spokesman Kenichi Takemori. The Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), which can seat as many as 92 people, is the first of four that the firm plans to fly to U.S. for testing as the company works toward getting certification in the world's largest economy. The four MRJ test planes are slated for extended flight testing at Moses Lake, taking advantage of both the unconstricted air space and the local engineering talent. While the plane Sunday made its way to the airspace of the northerly Japanese island of Hokkaido, it returned to Nagoya airport for possible repairs, according to Takemori. The aircraft made its first flight in November last year and has been undergoing tests since. Yesterday's flight was also aborted because of an air-conditioning system problem. Once the MRJ fleet arrives in Washington state, Seattle-based engineering company AeroTEC will provide technical support and aircraft-certification services for Mitsubishi. Between Moses Lake and AeroTEC's engineering and certification-support group in Seattle, Mitsubishi will employ about 400 people for several years during development and testing of the MRJ family, including about 250 pilots and engineers sent from Japan. http://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/mitsubishis-regional-jet-aborts- flight-to-us-for-a-second-day/ Back to Top Nepal's Simrik Airlines secures ASL renewal; resumes ops Simrik Airlines Beechcraft 1900C Simrik Airlines (RMK, Kathmandu) has resumed operations after the Nepali cabinet approved the renewal of its expired Air Service License (ASL). The country's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation then proceeded with the renewal despite earlier concerns legal hurdles could protract the process. Simrik Airlines was forced to suspend flights earlier this month after its ASL was found expired by more than fourteen months. In a statement issued at the time, it said it had intended to complete the process last year only to be sidetracked by the Gorkha earthquake and its economic impact. The carrier operates Beech 1900Ds and Do228s on regular passenger flights to Mountain, Lukla, Pokhara, Bhairahawa, and Jomsom domestically. http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/48839-nepals-simrik-airlines-secures-asl- renewal-resumes-ops Back to Top Falcon Air Express loses bid to resume ops The US Department of Transportation (DOT) says it has revoked a Notice to Resume operations filed by Falcon Air Express (6F, Miami Int'l) on the grounds of dormancy. The carrier suspended all operations and returned its Part 121 Air Operators Certificate (AOC) to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on June 5 last year. It then filed for bankruptcy. The DOT says it informed the carrier shortly afterwards that its certificates of public convenience and necessity permitting it to engage in interstate and foreign charter flights would remain valid only until June 5, 2016. It further warned Falcon Air Express that it failed to prove its economic fitness to resume commercial operations, let alone resume actual flights, by the deadline, then its licences would be revoked forthwith. FAE filed a notice to resume operations in March using a single MD-83 but according to the DOT, this would not be legally possible. "However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has informed us that once an air carrier has surrendered its FAA Air Carrier Certificate, it may not resume operations under that authority. Instead, Falcon Air must file an application with the FAA for a new Air Carrier Certificate," the DOT said. "In light of these circumstances, we are dismissing the application to resume air transportation operations filed by Falcon Air ... and, in accordance with section 204.7, revoking the air carrier's interstate charter certificate for reason dormancy." The foreign charter certificate is subject to Presidential review and will be decided at a later date, the DOT added. FAE operated charter flights for the US Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System - JPATS (DOJ, Oklahoma City Will Rogers World) - as well as the United States Department of Homeland Security (RPN, Corpus Christi). http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/48845-falcon-air-express-loses-bid-to-resume- ops Back to Top USAIG Launches Safety Program for Unmanned Aircraft Systems United States Aircraft Insurance Group (USAIG) has introduced a safety program called Performance Vector Unmanned, created specifically for policyholders who insure unmanned aircraft systems. The new program aims to keep safety at the forefront, which is especially critical considering that UAS outnumber registered manned aircraft. The program's predecessor, Performance Vector, was established in 2011 to provide safety-supportive benefits to policyholders who insure turbine-powered manned aircraft. Likewise, Performance Vector Unmanned integrates products and services specific to UAS operational safety and is made broadly available to holders of UAS policies. According to Paul Ratté, USAIG's director of aviation safety programs, the program a includes one remote pilot's ground school with any UAS policy, as well as discounted rates for additional trainees. The program's initial offering is the Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) Ground School Course, provided online by ARGUS Unmanned. The course offers required aeronautical knowledge for remote pilots of UAS weighing less than 55 pounds. The curriculum addresses all aeronautical knowledge factors outlined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the Unmanned Aircraft General (UAG) examination. It augments those with safety concepts and practices to develop well-informed and responsible remote pilots. Students who successfully complete the course receive a certificate of completion from ARGUS Unmanned. This prepares them to attain or recurrently sustain Remote Pilot- in-Command certification. The course teaches what human factors contribute to errors and violations and how they may cause UAS accidents. It also teaches the ethical and legal requirements of being a responsible remote pilot and explores a professional career in unmanned aviation. USAIG provides a full spectrum of coverage options for owners, operators, manufacturers and maintainers of corporate, private and commercial aircraft. United States Aviation Underwriters, Inc. manages USAIG. USAIG is a subsidiary of General Re Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway company. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, ARGUS International, Inc. (ARGUS) is a specialized aviation services company that provides the aviation marketplace with data and information. http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2016/08/29/424654.htm Back to Top Textron Aviation to move Cessna Caravan work southeast A Cessna Caravan on the company's Wichita production line in 2010. A pipeline of new airplanes means Textron Aviation will relocate its Cessna Caravan production 113 miles southeast of Wichita. The manufacturer of Cessna and Beechcraft airplanes will send its work on the single- engine, utility turboprop to its Independence plant. "This move will utilize capacity at our Independence, Kansas, facility, while making our Wichita work force available for new products such as the Citation Longitude and Cessna Denali," Textron Aviation said in a statement Friday. The company has already chosen its east campus, formerly Beechcraft, as the assembly site for the Longitude, which is weeks away from first flight. The company said no jobs are expected to be affected by the move that will free up space at the Textron Aviation West Campus, formerly Cessna, near K-42 and Hoover in southwest Wichita. It isn't clear when the move will occur. "We are still very early in the transition planning," a Textron Aviation spokeswoman said. The move would likely have to occur before 2018. That's when the company plans the first flight of the Cessna Denali, a single-engine turboprop it unveiled last month at the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wis. "We remain focused on new product development and, as such, must ensure our footprint and facilities meet the current and future needs of the business," the statement said. The Denali is Textron Aviation's answer to Swiss airplane maker Pilatus' successful PC-12 and Daher's TBM 900. The Caravan is one of the company's oldest planes still in production. Cessna delivered the first Caravan in 1985 and last year marked the delivery of its 2,500th Caravan. Even this year the Caravan remains a robust product line - comprising the 208 Caravan and the 208B Grand Caravan EX - accounting for 32, or 18 percent, of all Textron Aviation aircraft deliveries in the first half of 2016. In Independence, Textron Aviation manufactures the single-piston engine Skyhawk, Skylane and Stationair as well as the Citation Mustang and M2 business jets, and the TTx high-performance single. http://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article98044212.html#storylink=cpy Back to Top Air New Zealand Advances 767 Phaseout AUCKLAND-Air New Zealand's plan to accelerate the retirement of its remaining Boeing 767s will allow it to trim capacity growth and also improve fleet efficiency. The carrier has revealed it will phase out its last three 767-300ERs by April, a year earlier than it had previously indicated. This was one of multiple fleet adjustments the airline announced in the same week in which it reported another record profit for the fiscal year ending June 30. Despite its strong financial performance, Air New Zealand is expecting greater pressure on yields due to an influx of competition in key markets. It is cutting growth expectations because of this, and airline executives say the early exit of the 767s is one of the main "capacity levers" at their disposal. The airline expects to phase out one of its 767s in November and the other two in March. This move was partly driven by cost considerations, CEO Christopher Luxon told Aviation Daily. When an aircraft fleet becomes that small, it is harder to support its maintenance and crew costs. "You lose efficiency when you lose critical mass," Luxon said. He adds that the carrier saw the same thing before its last two 747s were retired in 2014. As recently as six months ago, Air New Zealand executives said the remaining 767s would likely be kept for a few more years (Aviation Daily, Feb. 25). The 767s are earmarked for the carrier's seasonal service to Ho Chi Minh City and its proposed flights to Osaka and Manila. Luxon said Boeing 787-9s will be used to replace all of the services operated by 767s. Another advantage of the early retirement is that the carrier will have greater product consistency across its long-haul fleet, with just 777s and 787s. Air New Zealand took delivery of its seventh 787 in July and is scheduled to receive two more by year-end. This will leave three remaining 787s on order. Two are due in the 2017-18 fiscal year and another in the following fiscal year. The carrier has revealed that these last three 787s will be delivered in a different configuration, with a greater proportion of business-class and premium-economy seats (Aviation Daily, Aug. 22). Luxon said these aircraft will give Air New Zealand more flexibility as some markets evolve to a greater premium mix. The 787s in the new configuration may be used on Asia-Pacific or North American routes. Air New Zealand has also decided to launch a cabin upgrade program for its seven 777- 300ERs, beginning in February. The airline did not reveal which company will perform the work, but Luxon said it will be outsourced overseas. In other fleet developments, Air New Zealand operated its last flight using a Beech 1900D turboprop on Aug. 26. The airline has been phasing out these aircraft as more ATR 72s arrive. Air New Zealand added a lot of capacity in the 2015-16 fiscal year, and it is now focused more on "digesting" the new capacity rather than adding more routes, Luxon said. This will be particularly true for the first 6-9 months of the current fiscal year. The airline is confronting a surge of new competition on many of its long-haul routes this year. This will put pressure on yield and unit revenue in the July-September quarter in particular, Luxon said during an analyst briefing. It will take some time for the market to absorb the new competitive capacity, Luxon cautioned. Therefore, Air New Zealand's own capacity growth will be more modest than predicted. This will be most evident in long-haul markets, where capacity is now expected to be up by just 4-6% in the current fiscal year, versus 16% growth in the 2015-16 fiscal year. Capacity is likely to increase 3-5% for Australian and Pacific Island routes and 7-9% for the domestic market-in both cases similar to the previous year's growth. The airline has continued its run of strong financial results with a record net profit of NZ$463 million (U.S.$340 million) for the fiscal year through June 30, up 42% from the previous year. Operating revenue increased 6.2% to NZ$5.2 billion, while passenger revenue was up 8.9%. Operating costs declined by 2% to NZ$3.7 billion. Lower fuel costs were the major factor, dropping by 22.3%. Overall traffic increased 11% on a 12% capacity hike. Unit revenue dropped by 2.3%, reflecting significant capacity growth and higher competition. Yield was down 1.8%. Air New Zealand expects its profit for the 2016-17 fiscal year to drop slightly, due to greater competitive forces. Pre-tax profit is projected to be in the range of NZ$400-600 million, versus NZ$663 million for the previous year. www.aviationweek.com Back to Top Pentagon weapons tester: F-35 fighter jet has 'significant' problems The assessment warns of significant issues with the warplane The $400 billion program is at risk of not reaching full combat capability (CNN)The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is drawing sharp criticism from the Pentagon's top weapons tester, who warns the aircraft is "on a path of failing to deliver" its full combat capability. The sobering review of the US military's $400 billion program comes despite its achieving several major development milestones this month. The single-engine, fifth-generation F- 35 fighter jet is touted as the future of military aviation: A lethal and versatile aircraft to replace the aging fleet currently used by all three military branches. An Aug. 9th memo from Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department's director of operational testing, to defense officials details the tester's concerns. Dated just one week after the Air Force declared its version of the F-35 ready for initial combat operations, Gilmore wrote that the advanced aircraft continues to demonstrate limitations related to its software, data fusion, electronic warfare and weapons employment, according to Bloomberg News, which first reported the memo. "Achieving full combat capability with the Joint Strike Fighter is at substantial risk" of not occurring before development is supposed to end and realistic combat testing begins, he wrote in the memo to Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James; Gen. David Goldfein, the service's chief of staff, and Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's acquisitions chief, according to Bloomberg. Roger Cabiness, a Department of Defense spokesman for the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, confirmed the contents of Gilmore's memo and told CNN it "provides details of significant performance problems that must be corrected for the Joint Strike Fighter to achieve full combat capability, as well as concerns that the program likely lacks the resources needed to correct those problems consistent with beginning operational testing in 2018." Combining advanced stealth with speed, agility and a 360-degree view of the battlefield, the F-35 is already the most expensive weapons system in history and has come under harsh scrutiny from lawmakers and watchdog groups after numerous hardware malfunctions and software glitches delayed the aircraft's production for more than three years and caused its budget to swell some $200 billion over initial estimates. However, the Pentagon's F-35 Joint Program office downplayed the severity the issues noted in the memo, telling CNN that it is aware of all Gilmore's concerns and is currently acting on all of his recommendations. "While nearing completion, the F-35 is still in development and technical challenges are to be expected," Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdon, the F-35's chief executive officer, said in a statement. "The program has a proven track record of solving technical issues and we're confident we'll continue to do so," he added. The Air Force said it is also working to address the problems detailed by Gilmore and reiterated that it has seen significant progress. Despite Gilmore's warning that the program "is running out of time and money to complete the planned flight testing and implement the required fixes and modifications," the Joint Program Office remains optimistic that it will be able to complete the next- generation fighter in keeping with its latest schedule and within its most recent budget allocation. As a testament to the program's progress, Bogdon also noted that the F-35 has already been employed in multiple realistic, demanding deployments and exercises. "The results of these operationally realistic events have been positive as the F-35 is proving to be a formidable weapons system that not only provides better capabilities when compared to legacy aircraft but also makes legacy aircraft more effective with its battlespace awareness, sensor fusion, and electronic attack & protective capabilities," he said in a statement. In addition to the Air Force declaring its version of the F-35 ready for combat earlier this month, the DOD's Joint Program Office touted recent successes in testing the fighter's weapons firing system. The Marines declared its version of the aircraft combat-ready in July 2015, while the Navy expects to reach that milestone in 2018. http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/26/politics/f-35-fighter-jet-problems-gilmore-memo/ Back to Top Wheels up for China's new aero-engine group Beijing (AFP) - China officially launched a new multi-billion dollar jet engine conglomerate with almost 100,000 employees at the weekend, as Beijing seeks to become an aerospace power and compete with the likes of Rolls Royce and General Electric. The Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC) has registered capital of 50 billion yuan ($7.5 billion), and previous reports said it would incorporate subsidiaries of a series of state-owned firms, including the Aviation Industrial Corp. of China (AVIC). President Xi Jinping said founding the company was a "strategic move" to make China an aviation power and modernise the military, the official Xinhua news agency reported. China does not make large commercial jet engines of its own and the country's narrow- body airliner, the C919, is powered by engines from CFM International, a venture between GE of the United States and France's Safran. The best aircraft in China's air force use engines built in Russia, Xinhua said. Beijing is looking to change that with the creation of a new national champion in the field as it seeks the prestige of having its own aviation sector. Leaders have targeted the manufacture of high-technology products such as jet engines as a means to transform the world's second largest economy and make its firms more competitive with advanced foreign rivals in aerospace, biotechnology, alternative energy and other sectors. Premier Li Keqiang said in written comments that making "breakthroughs" in advanced aircraft engines would have great value in strengthening the military and manufacturing ability of the country. Xinhua cited him urging indigenous innovation to make AECC a world leader in aero- engines. The new firm will employ 96,000 employees and be headquartered in the capital, reports said, with China's State Council, or cabinet, and the Beijing city government also investing in it. But industry executives say it could take years for the firm to develop the engines to power big commercial jets. Earlier this summer China's homegrown regional jet the ARJ21, made by AECC investor the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC), made its first commercial flight after years of delays, though its quality and reliability still have to be established to win over customer and passenger confidence. https://www.yahoo.com/news/wheels-chinas-aero-engine-group-050844819-- finance.html Back to Top Envoy Air partners with Ohio State to train future pilots Envoy Air is a regional-jet operator and subsidiary of American Airlines, and pilots in Envoy's training program will eventually have the opportunity to fly for American. Regional jet operator Envoy Air has begun working with Ohio State University's aviation program to offer a career path for pilots in which pilots serve with Envoy for several years before moving up to flying for Envoy partner American Airlines within six years. Envoy is offering tuition reimbursement as students move through their study and placement at partner schools to build the flight hours necessary to move into commercial flying. Envoy works with more than 40 other universities and flight schools as the airline industry grapples with a pilot shortage. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2016/08/29/1-envoy-air-partners- with-osu-aviation.html Back to Top Embry-Riddle Prescott's Industrial Psychology and Safety Program Secures No. 1 Ranking in U.S. CollegeValuesOnline.com Also Names University's Daytona Beach, Fla., Campus' Aerospace and Occupational Safety Program as Fourth Best Nationally In-demand aviation safety bachelor's degree programs at both Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's residential campuses recently topped CollegeValuesOnline.com's "20 Best Values in Occupational Safety Degree Programs" report with its Prescott, Ariz., Campus' Industrial Psychology and Safety Program earning the No. 1 spot and the Daytona Beach, Fla., Campus's Aerospace and Occupational Safety program placing fourth. Launched in Fall 2014 at the Prescott Campus, the Industrial Psychology and Safety bachelor of science program entails traditional safety curriculum such as ergonomics, hygiene and toxicology, but stands out nationally for its focus on human behavior at all professional levels. CollegeValuesOnline.com declared it the best among 20 other universities because of "its unique courses offered including statistics for organizational analysis and research, group and team behavior, and human reliability and safety analysis. There are three minors that go hand-in-hand with either side of the major's dual focus - security and intelligence studies, emergency planning and management and aviation safety. According to a 2014 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, Industrial/Organizational Psychology is the No. 1 fastest growing occupation in the U.S. (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/americas-20-fastest-growing-jobs- surprise/story?id=22364716). "Industrial Psychology focuses on human behavior and thought in the workplace, but we take this to the next level by adding in specialized training for our students in aviation and industry safety. Our students get amazing analytic skills and understand how major theories on human behavior and actions apply to influence the how and why people do the safe (or unsafe) thing in the workplace, how to promote safety when part of a team, and how the policies, procedures, regulations and culture of an organization all interact to support or impede safety," said Dr. Erin Bowen, Chair of Embry-Riddle Prescott's Behavioral & Safety Sciences Department and Director of the Robertson Safety Institute. "Being named best in the U.S. further validates our commitment to providing our students the in-demand and necessary tools to go into career fields where they can excel personally and professionally." In ranking it fourth, CollegeValuesOnline.com singled out the Daytona Beach Campus' coursework for its aerospace and occupational safety degree, which was developed specifically to meet the requirements of the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI). Chaired by Dr. Michael O'Toole, it is the only safety program in the country accredited by AABI. Courses offered include human factors in aviation safety, system safety in aviation, aircraft crash investigation, observational data analysis and Engineering Hazard Controls with two minors in aviation safety and industrial safety. To determine its rankings, CollegeValuesOnline.com selected 20 bachelor-level programs out of 30 schools returned by the NCES College Navigator database and awarded points based on four categories: low tuition, high return on investment, a high percentage of students receiving financial aid, and the number of minors, concentrations, or areas of emphasis offered by the school. Each of these categories contributes to the value of a program. The return on investment figures were sourced from Payscale.com. The tuition information was sourced from The National Center for Education Statistics College Navigator Database For more information and other schools ranked, go to collegevaluesonline.com/rankings/occupational-safety-degree-programs/ Media Contact: Melanie Hanns, Director of Media Relations, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; (386) 226-7538; melanie.hanns@erau.edu - See more at: http://news.erau.edu/headlines/embry-riddle-prescotts-industrial- psychology-and-safety-program-secures-no-1-ranking-in-us/#sthash.KwxJs4Zw.dpuf http://news.erau.edu/headlines/embry-riddle-prescotts-industrial-psychology-and-safety- program-secures-no-1-ranking-in-us/ Back to Top Five steps to success How to improve America's dismal airlines SKYTRAX recently released its annual airline rankings, and the message is clear: given the choice, it is better to fly on Asian carriers and to avoid American ones. Emirates was voted the top airline by flyers across the globe, followed by Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and All Nippon Airways (ANA). It is the first clean sweep of the top five for Asian carriers since 2013. (Turkish Airlines, now seventh, made the cut in the intervening years.) And the big four airlines in the United States? To find them, you'll have to scroll down a bit. And then a bit more. Delta lies in 35th place, trailed by Southwest at 66th, United at 68th and American at 77th-just below Ethiopian Airlines and above the Japanese low-cost carrier Peach. This is nothing new; in fact, last year, the top performer among the country's big airlines, Delta, was all the way down at 45th. One smaller American airline, meanwhile, has managed to climb to the top of the United States pack. Virgin America, ranked 46th in 2014, ascended to 26th last year and 25th this year. But it has now been subsumed by Alaska Airlines (60th) in a merger that might be good news for shareholders, but is probably less so for its flyers. Why is it that airlines on this side of the Atlantic fall so consistently, dismally, behind their Asian and European counterparts? Theories abound, but they tend to fall into five categories: Blame geography America is a big country, and its airlines have to focus most of their attention on domestic flights. In 2014, Delta flew more passengers than any other in the world, but less than one-fifth of them were on international routes. Despite recent consolidation, there is still much competition at home: on top of the big four, customers can sometimes choose among JetBlue, Spirit, Frontier, Alaska, Hawaiian, Virgin America and others. And flyers have made it clear that they have one priority far above all others: price. The result, as one airline industry veteran told Fast Company, is that flights resemble "a Greyhound [bus] with wings". When flying halfway across the country for $70, can flyers really expect better amenities than on a long-haul bus making the same trip? That pressure is not felt by, say, Singapore Airlines, the world's third-best carrier, according to Skytrax. It has no domestic routes to worry about; the entire country is less than 300 square miles. Instead, the airline can focus on winning over long-haul travellers who are often willing to pay more for better service. As Jared Blank writes in Online Travel Review: Singapore was a luxury provider because they didn't fly short-haul and they were competing solely for long-distance traffic (primarily with BA and Qantas). Emirates was initially competing with Singapore for connecting traffic between Asia/Australia & Europe, so they had to compete with them from a service perspective. Then Qatar and Etihad had to match. Is it a coincidence that the top five airlines are all from small states at the hub of various major international travel routes? They are all competing, in effect, for well-heeled business travellers journeying between Europe or America and East Asia, and not worrying so much about domestic travel. The United States, by virtue (or vice) of its geography, doesn't stand at any such nexus-foreigners don't often stop over in the United States on the way to somewhere else. Blame capitalism America's airlines have long accused the leading Gulf carriers of receiving state subsidies that create an unlevel playing field through, among other things, artificially cheap access to airports, cheap labour and interest-free loans. Last year they provided what they claimed was new evidence to back up those accusations. Having the state fully on your side certainly helps. In fact, the top four airlines in the Skytrax survey are all flag carriers for their respective countries (ANA is the exception), and three of them are mostly or entirely state owned. America has no flag carrier, and though its airlines do benefit from various forms of public largesse, they have to compete in a way that some of these rivals don't. Blame unions A popular culprit for poor service on United States' airlines is labour unions. Though they have lost much of their influence in America, unions still hold considerable sway in aviation, and they aren't afraid to take a stand against their corporate overlords. (This is, of course, the case in Europe, too, so this argument focusses more on Asia.) Unions are handy for employees fighting for decent pay and job stability, but tend not to be not so good for passengers. As Gary Leff writes in his View From the Wing blog, "As long as scheduling is done by seniority, and pay is doled out by route, and as long as commendations and criticisms are only ancillary to performance evaluations, pay, and perks, airlines aren't going to be able to align the incentives of their frontline workforce to deliver outstanding service." Blame sexism It would be nice to think that travellers judge service purely on the basis of punctuality, comfort and amenities. Alas, some passengers-and airlines-are still living in the age of "Mad Men", and seem just as concerned with how pleasing its female staff are to male eyes. Singapore Airlines still advertises around its famous "Singapore Girl" (pictured above), something American airlines couldn't do without facing serious allegations of sexism. Anti-discrimination laws in the United States rightly prevent airlines from hiring and firing on the basis of physical appearance. Sadly, these restrictions aren't present everywhere. (Until last year, female cabin crew on Qatar Airways were not even allowed to get married or fall pregnant.) And, like it or not, when some dinosaur-types rate their airline, whether consciously or unconsciously, they do so in part on the basis of the appearance of the flight attendants. Blame waistlines This one probably isn't fair, but it bears mentioning. Airlines' costs correlate directly to the load they are carrying. Losing even small amounts of weight can mean big savings: easyJet, for example, reckons that for every kilogramme its planes shed, it reduces fuel costs by £20,000 ($26,000) a year. Americans are the third-heaviest people on the planet, behind Micronesians and Tongans. The average American adult weighs about 40% more than the average adult in Japan, China, or Singapore. Those extra pounds mean extra fuel costs, which require airlines to do some cutting in order to avoid raising prices. Even were that not the case, sitting next to someone with an expansive waist, will certainly make your seat feel smaller. If America wants better airlines, in other words, the answer is simple. First it must take the carriers into state control and squash the unions. Then it must persuade the world to forget its sexist ways and encourage those at home to go on a diet. Finally it should reduce in size and move a bit closer to Asia. Easy. http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2016/08/five-steps-success Back to Top TODAY'S PHOTO Back to Top Experimental Glider to Attempt Record-Breaking Flight Into Space The Perlan Project hopes to ride Patagonia's ferocious mountain winds into aviation history. The Airbus Perlan 2 completes a test flight in May in Minden, Nevada. Can the craft soar into the edge of space? Patagonia, Argentina, is one of the windiest places on Earth. Gusts can do more than just make for bad hair days. They stretch trees sideways and can knock planes from the sky. (See: the movie Alive.) To the pilots and scientists of the Perlan Project, an aviation expedition under way this month in El Calafate, Argentina, the harder the wind blows, the better. It's a sign that an atmospheric condition called stratospheric mountain waves are forming in the skies above the Andes Mountains. By the end of this month, the pilots hope to begin flights in a three-million-dollar experimental glider. The craft arrived by container ship from the United States this week. Within days, the team will attempt soaring to an altitude of 90,000 feet (27,432 meters)- the edge of space. If successful, Perlan will beat the world altitude record for a fixed-wing aircraft of 85,068 feet (25,929 meters), set 50 years ago by the SR-71 Blackbird. The Perlan mission is about more than just exploration. The pilots will test the experimental glider at an altitude where the air density is similar to that on the surface of Mars. The glider is outfitted with scientific equipment so it can take measurements of the Earth's atmosphere along the way. The data will help meteorologists better understand the ozone hole and the polar vortex, features of the Earth's atmosphere being impacted by climate change. If successful, the Perlan flight will break the altitude record set by a jet-powered spy plane. Except that, unlike the Blackbird, the Perlan glider will have achieved that height without consuming a drop of fuel. (Learn about the record-breaking Solar Impulse project.) The Perfect Wave Mountain waves occur wherever a jet stream collides with a mountain range. As the jet stream ramps up and over it, a column of air is pushed upward, creating lifters for gliders to soar. (Perlan is an Icelandic word for the pearl-shaped clouds that sometimes form over mountain waves.) In the United States, the Sierra Nevadas produce one of the world's most powerful and consistent mountain waves. In 1986, pilot Bob Harris soared to 49,009 feet (14,938 meters), a record for gliders. That's about as high as the Sierra wave can go before it hits the tropopause, the ceiling to the Earth's lower atmosphere, and dissipates. Elizabeth Austin, Perlan's chief meteorologist, knew that the team would need help getting through the tropopause, either in the form of a secondary boost or a lessening of its dampening effect on mountain waves. Scouring maps of the Earth's climate, topography, and weather systems, she noticed a high-altitude air current called the Stratospheric Polar Night Jet. Oval-shaped, it rotated west to east so that the longer ends swept across the 55th parallel with every revolution. She and Einar Enevoldson, a former NASA test pilot, theorized that conditions could arise where the polar night jet could line up directly over a low-altitude jet, allowing the Perlan pilots to stair-step into the stratosphere. A Blast of Air, Then Quiet Perlan's Phase I flight was made by Enevoldson and Steve Fossett, the millionaire adventurer who funded the expedition. On August 30, 2006, they soared to an altitude of 50,724 feet (15,460 meters) in the skies over Patagonia, breaking Harris's soaring record from the Sierras. The flight proved Enevoldson's theory and Austin's atmospheric model correct. "It felt quite graceful," Fossett said after the flight, speaking with me at an airport hangar in Patagonia. "The hardest part was getting into the wave because we had to go through a lot of turbulence that stressed the glider to around 5 g's. But once we connected with the wave, the air went smooth and there was an eerie silence. We were just climbing. That's the wave: Once you're there it's easy." Tragically, Fossett was killed one year later, in an unrelated plane crash in the Sierra Nevadas. "I couldn't have asked for a better sponsor or colleague than Steve Fossett," says Enevoldson. "We owe him for taking on the project and giving it respectability." For Phase II, Perlan needed to build an experimental glider, from scratch. Members of the gliding community donated a million dollars, but the project needed a lot more. In 2014, Enevoldson announced that Airbus Group, the European plane manufacturer, had agreed to be Perlan's corporate sponsor. Airbus covered the costs for completing the sailplane, its test flights in California, and two years of flight attempts in Argentina. "The prospect of winged flight on Mars is becoming more real," says James Darcy, a spokesman for Airbus. "This glider could create a technology road map for use 30 years into the future." Stretched to the Limit The glider's most obvious feature is the cockpit's round windows. Square windows would've created stress at the corners, causing the frame to buckle or a window to pop out. For testing, the engineers built a replica model and tested it to 25 psi. In the stratosphere, the sailplane will experience only 8.5 psi, giving the design a safety factor of three, NASA's standard for spacecraft. "We spent hundreds of engineering hours eliminating every risk we can," says Jim Payne, the project's chief pilot. "There's always a small chance of some unknown danger." The unknowns increase the higher Perlan goes. Payne tested the glider at 20,000 feet (6,096 meters), in the Sierra Nevadas. It performed to specs, giving him confidence the design will perform at 90,000 feet (27,432 meters). But at that altitude, the plane will be pushed to the limits of its ability. Because the air will be thin, the sailplane will risk stalling. But if it goes too fast, the relative ground speed will be such that the plane could easily go Mach I, and break the sound barrier, which would send damaging shock waves through the craft. As Austin succinctly puts it: "Go too slow, and you fall out of the sky. Go too fast, and you fall out of the sky." In either scenario, the Perlan cockpit doesn't eject, but the pilots can release a ballistic recovery chute that will bring the plane down to Earth safely. The best insurance against that is for qualified pilots to be in command of the craft. Enevoldson, age 84, believes it is unwise for him to fly the mission he dreamed up 20 years ago. So he recruited Payne, a retired Air Force test pilot with 2,000 hours of mountain wave experience. (Payne also spent parts of his career as a flight trainer, playing the role of a Soviet MiG in real-life versions of the dog fight scene in the movie Top Gun.) As exciting as the flight will be, the Perlan team expects to spend a lot of time waiting around the hangar in El Calafate, Argentina. "A lot of stars have to line up for us to get a shot at 90,000 feet," Austin says. "Really, there's just a handful of chances in a season when that will happen." But the worse the wind gets, the better their odds will be of making aviation history. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/perlan-project-glider-rides-mountain- waves-over-patagonia/ Back to Top NASA's "Spinoff" is the Coolest Magazine You've Never Read Since it was founded in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's goals have been civilian. The agency's main objective, to explore outside our orbit, was part of a larger mission to provide "the most effective utilization of the scientific and engineering resources of the United States." Consider that a success: Each year, thousands of consumer products benefit from "spin-offs," integration of technologies and processes originally developed for and by NASA. That makes the agency's existence a boon for the economy, pushing forward robotics and agriculture, medicine and computing. Plus, knowing there's a little Space Shuttle in your electric toothbrush is just plain cool. So, in 1976, NASA began releasing a magazine to summarize its influence on civilian items. Aptly titled Spinoff, each issue is 100-plus pages of essential nerd material and trivia fodder, charting the diaspora of space technology. Like how the Viking Mars lander program informed winter car tire compounds, or silica fiber Orbiter tiles were repurposed to help jewelers solder precious metals. Because it's clearly an exercise in justifying NASA's funding, Spinoff doesn't discriminate in its coverage; some inventions are incredible (cool suits to slow multiple sclerosis symptoms, 1993), while others are hilarious (helicopter rotor-inspired, and Glen Campbell-endorsed, acoustic guitars, 1978) or downright idiotic (ungainly, pod-like anthropometric in-home relaxation chamber, 1987.) Invariably, though, they are wonderful. NASA has digitized hi-res scans of every Spinoff, cover-to-cover, and made the collection available online as downloadable PDFs. Just follow this link, then key the desired year into the URL (e.g. "1976.pdf") and bask in all the retro glory. Current Issue (2016) https___spinoff.nasa.gov_Spinoff2016_toc_2016.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasas-spinoff-coolest-magazine-youve-161500954.html Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY (1) Dear Colleagues, I am a university student completing my master degree at the University of South Wales in the UK and I'm conducting a research for my dissertation on aircraft maintenance cost reduction. I would appreciate it if you could complete my survey below: survey link http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/837F5/ Thank you, Ali khlifa Abushhiwa Back to Top GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY (2) Manual Flying Skills Online Survey Dear fellow Aviators, I kindly ask you to take part in a short online survey concerning the topics of automation and manual flying skills. Besides flying Boeing 737s in Europe, I am enrolled in the MSc Air Safety Management part-time programme at City University London. At the moment, I am working on my thesis - topic: 'Manual Flying Skills - Airline Procedures and their Effect on Pilot Proficiency' - required for the award of the MSc degree next year. By means of this thesis, I intend to investigate the effects different policies or procedures regarding automation (and the resulting manual flying opportunities) can have on pilots' manual flying skills. Recent incidents and accidents involving manual flying deficiencies have brought this issue to wider attention, especially regarding loss of control in-flight (LOC-I) accidents. The survey displays a core element of my work as I would like to combine pilots' subjective views and experiences with current literature and scientific research. It addresses all pilots flying in a commercial environment world-wide and can be found at: https://de.surveymonkey.com/r/manualflyingskills It would be great if you could spare roughly 8-10 minutes of your valued time for this survey. Moreover, it would help me considerably if you could share the survey with friends flying around the world - in order to represent a wide range of different procedural environments in my research. Thank you very much in advance, highly appreciated! Moritz Hanusch Back to Top The International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) will hold their 47th annual seminar at the Grand Hotel Reykjavik, Iceland, from October 17- 20, 2016 Up to date program details, links to the registration program and the hotel can be found at www.esasi.eu/isasi-2016 or www.isasi.org Dates to Remember Cut off date for the seminar rate at the hotel is September 10, 2016. Reservations made after that date will not be guaranteed the seminar rate. Cut off date for the early registration fee is September 25, 2016. We look forward to seeing you in Iceland Back to Top RSVP by contacting Erin Carroll, DFRC President by September 1 Email: erin.carroll@wnco.com or Telephone: (214) 792-5089 Curt Lewis