January 02, 2017 - No. 001 In This Issue Jet Aviation Basel Services Its First BBJ 777 Iran Air and Airbus seal 100-aircraft order PaxEx 2017: The airport of the future starts to arrive Feds approve beyond line of sight flights for drone at Grand Forks test site WorkZone: Aeronautics institute aims to attract students to meet future aviation demand LanzaTech Awarded $4M from DOE for Low Carbon Jet & Diesel Demonstration Facility SpaceX says it figured out why its rocket exploded and will fly again within days Jet Aviation Basel Services Its First BBJ 777 Jet Aviation conducted its first maintenance event on a privately owned Boeing BBJ 777 for an undisclosed Middle Eastern client at its Basel, Switzerland MRO facility last week. The General Dynamics subsidiary accepted the aircraft one week after receiving the request and returned the aircraft on December 24, eight days later. "This is a significant milestone for the large-aircraft maintenance team," said Estelle Thorin, the company's director of maintenance for large aircraft in Basel. "We look forward to demonstrating our high-quality maintenance services to this new customer and all BBJ owners and operators." The facility is a factory-approved service center for Boeing Business Jets. "We are delighted to welcome this customer back and look forward to supporting more 777 maintenance and refurbishment inputs in 2017," said Johannes Turzer, senior vice president and general manager of the facility. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2016-12-30/jet-aviation-basel-services- its-first-bbj-777 Back to Top Iran Air and Airbus seal 100-aircraft order Iran Air and Airbus have signed a firm contract for 100 aircraft, building on an initial commitment signed in January 2016 in Paris. The agreement signed by Farhad Parvaresh, Iran Air Chairman and CEO, and Fabrice Bregier, Airbus President and CEO, on 22nd December covers 46 A320 Family (neo and ceo), 38 A330 Family (neo and ceo) and 16 A350 XWB aircraft. As expected, the final deal does not include any A380s. Deliveries will begin in early 2017. Airbus notes that the agreement is subject to US government Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) export licences which were granted in September and November 2016. These licenses are required for products containing 10% or more US technology content. Airbus says it coordinated closely with regulators in the EU, US and elsewhere to ensure understanding and full compliance with the JCPOA. The company declares that it will continue to act in full compliance with the conditions of the OFAC licences. The agreement follows the implementation of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action), its associated rules and guidance and included new commercial aircraft orders as well as a comprehensive civil aviation package. The package includes pilot and maintenance training, supporting the development of air navigation services (ATM), airport and aircraft operations and regulatory harmonization. Earlier in December, Boeing and Iran Air announced an agreement for 80 aircraft - 50 737 MAX 8s, 15 777-300ERs and 15 777-9s - valued at $16.6bn at list prices. In February, Iran Air also signed an agreement covering firm orders for 20 ATR 72-600 turboprops plus 20 options - a deal valued at €1bn. That deal is expected to be finalized soon. http://www.aircosmosinternational.com/iran-air-and-airbus-seal-100-aircraft-order-88077 Back to Top PaxEx 2017: The airport of the future starts to arrive Self-service will be the watchword for developments in airport #PaxEx during 2017, as operators and airlines seek to reduce the cost of doing business. Passengers can expect both the carrot of convenience as the last few airlines roll out online or mobile checkin and the stick of fewer desks available for passengers who cannot (owing to airline policies, document check requirements, or a lack of accessibility) check themselves in. Bag drop will increasingly be automated, with airlines figuring out how to explain the process to passengers (and the industry in general starting to coalesce around a standard process). Don't expect the electronic bag tags to take off, though: these rather overengineered solutions to a relatively simple problem are unlikely to be the death of the traditional barcoded or updated RFID tag. At the other end of the journey, visibility of bag tracking is likely to improve regardless of whether airlines choose RFIDor barcode-based tagging, as scanning systems and airline apps are linked together to provide more information to passengers. Bags may not arrive faster, but the psychological trick of telling travellers where their bag is will reduce stress at one of the most annoying points in the journey. Even security is likely to become more automated, with the rollout of European-style "smart checkpoints" speeding up the process for passengers and requiring fewer security staffers to operate. With increasing global instability, however, the wild card is a new threat vector to commercial aviation that requires new ways of checking passengers in the same way as the now decade-old liquid restrictions did in 2006. More countries and more airports will roll out automated passport checking, while an increasing number of passengers will be holding electronic passports. The tension will be between spending less on fewer immigration officials and retaining adequate capacity for screening during system outages or spikes in passengers who are ineligible for automated passport checking. Passengers can expect to see more navigation help from airlines within terminals, with beacon technology now fairly well embedded and more airline apps taking advantage of the technology. There will, however, continue to be a tension between airlines (whose interests are for passengers to be sitting at the gate ready to board as early as possible) and airports (whose interests are for them to spend as much time spending as much money as they can). For high-value passengers like frequent flyers and business or first class passengers, the airport of 2017 will be an increasingly different experience from flying economy. New and upgraded lounges will roll out swiftly, driven both by improved terminal restaurants (especially in the US) and by the rise of branded premium travel like United Polaris. There'll be more separate checkin and security processing for these passengers, and more airport fast-track overall - but also more opportunities for travellers to buy up to these options as airlines (and airports) chase the $130b of annual ancillary revenue opportunity towards the end of this decade. More, longer nonstops and reductions in meals from nominally full-service airlines like British Airways may well drive a new breed of bring-your-own options at more airports, akin to the infamous Pret à Manger sandwich/salad outlet at London Stansted. Existing airport restaurants may well go the route of the Gordon Ramsay Plane Food outlet in London Heathrow's Terminal 5, which offers "onboard picnic" hampers. 2017 will offer more options for passengers at the airport - much like the inflight experience - but they'll increasingly have to pay for them. https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2016/12/31/paxex-2017-the-airport-of-the-future-starts-to-arrive/ Back to Top Feds approve beyond line of sight flights for drone at Grand Forks test site Dec. 29--A group of researchers in Grand Forks can now fly unmanned aircraft to new lengths-- beyond what their eyes can see. The Federal Aviation Administration has granted permission to the Northern Plains UAS Test Site to conduct beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations at Grand Sky technology park on Grand Forks Air Force Base. The permission, known as a certificate of authorization, allows test site staff to fly unmanned aircraft systems, also called drones, without the use of a chase plane. Chase planes are piloted aircraft that follow drones during a flight to maintain a sightline between the drone and a human in order to avoid midair conflicts. "Every time that we go up on a flight, we're sending up two aircraft," said Nicholas Flom, executive director at the Northern Plains UAS Test Site. "It doesn't make any sense. That kind of defeats the entire purpose of an unmanned aircraft if I have to send up a second aircraft to go along with that." Test site personnel won't be able to retire the chase planes just yet. It will be about three to four months before they can take to skies without one because Grand Sky needs to complete technology upgrades so it can link to the base's digital radar system. The certificate and resulting research by the test site are expected to eventually create a path for businesses looking to include beyond-visual-line-of-sight flight operations, such as companies that inspect infrastructure or map cropland. Such capabilities could attract more tenants to Grand Sky, which hosts major aerospace companies Northrop Grumman Corp. and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. "This is a game-changer for the entire industry nationally," said Tom Swoyer Jr., president of Grand Sky Development Co. "This will be the first place in the United States where we can do that, so we expect that this is going to bring some kind of influx in companies interested in working with us." In announcing the certificate of authorization, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said this approval makes North Dakota an attractive place for government agencies, such as NASA, the Air Force and the Department of Homeland Security to integrate UAS into the national airspace system. "The FAA's approval of this COA is a major step forward for North Dakota and the UAS industry in general because UAS will have to be able to fly beyond the line of sight in order to operate concurrently with piloted aircraft in the National Air Space," Hoeven said in a statement. "This authorization will help companies like General Atomics, Northrop Grumman and future tenants at the Grand Sky technology park test and evaluate complex UAS operations possible nowhere else in the nation." North Dakota has gained a national reputation as a hub for unmanned aircraft activity. Its test site, which is charged with researching the safe integration of unmanned aircraft into the national airspace, has reached numerous milestones since becoming operational in 2014. "North Dakota is No. 1 when it comes to unmanned aircraft, and that's why I pushed the administration to make the Northern Plains UAS Test Site the first to conduct beyond-visual-line-of- sight operations," Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., said in a statement. "Grand Forks and the entire Red River Valley lead the country in developing and advancing these exciting technologies. Today's announcement puts the Northern Plains UAS Test Site in an even better position." http://www.securityinfowatch.com/news/12290658/feds-approve-beyond-line-of-sight-flights-for- drone-at-grand-forks-test-site Back to Top WorkZone: Aeronautics institute aims to attract students to meet future aviation demand A bell sounded, the break ended and dozens of idling college-aged students got back to class to finish their assignments for the afternoon. For these students, that meant gathering in a hangar at the Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin, striding up to a partially assembled jet engine, and assessing hanging wires, twisting pipes and a multitude of welds and bearings. Tim Mottern, a 20-year-old from Fulton County, explained the "100-hour inspection" - a federally mandated check-up that requires taking apart an engine and putting it back together. "You have to pull it off the chassis, and pretty much make sure it's not leaking, make sure everything's still tight, make sure everything still to spec, make sure it hasn't warmed too much," Mr. Mottern said. "We check the firewall, fuel lines, basically, and look for any cracks." Such a review is a core responsibility of a Federal Aviation Administration-certified inspector. It's also part of the core curriculum at the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics, a landmark of tech education in Western Pennsylvania since its founding as a Curtiss-Wright flight school in 1929. But over the years, the nonprofit's enrollment has been dropping, according to Steven Sabold, director of admissions. Across four campuses - including Youngstown, Ohio; Hagerstown, Md.; and Myrtle Beach, S.C. - the institute sends off about 225 students annually, which is roughly less than half the graduation classes of the early 1990s, Mr. Sabold said. The enrollment decline is a symptom of a long-term issue in aeronautics, which is heading toward the same cliff as other vocational or tech-driven industries. The aeronautics industry is facing a host of challenges: a wave of upcoming retirements; a dearth of mechanical skills and interest in the digital age; and a public perception that the jobs are unglamorous or somehow less successful than those attained with a four-year college degree. Auto dealerships and repair shops have been saying for years that they can't find enough skilled labor and have appealed to schools like the Community College of Allegheny County to attract more students. Electric utilities like Duquesne Light Co. and West Penn Power see much of the same, expanding recruiting programs and re-branding to attract a younger crowd. Airlines are beginning to respond, and the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics, one of the few and longest-running ground maintenance schools in the country, is acutely aware of the problem. Across the country, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted about 139,000 aircraft mechanics and technicians - 77 percent over the age of 50, and less than 2 percent under the age of 30. Median pay sits around $58,390 a year. According to a market outlook by Boeing, there will be an "unprecedented demand" for 118,000 aircraft technicians in North America by 2034. And because the institute's classes are not at capacity, employers are looking for answers there. "They're coming to us asking, where is the disconnect? A lot of it really comes down to public perception," Mr. Sabold said. "One of our problems is, anybody who flies, who do you see? You see the flight attendant, you see the pilot, and maybe you see someone loading luggage. "You don't see all the behind-the-scenes work," he said. Touting job opportunities The school has seven recruiters who deliver hundreds of presentations each year at high schools and other venues, said Roxanne Ober, an associate director of admissions. The school's curriculum runs the gamut of the ground maintenance performed on any aircraft that needs to be checked by an FAA-certified technician before it leaves the ground. There are two programs that can be completed in 21 months: the Aviation Maintenance Technology program, which prepares students to get the FAA's Airframe and Power Plant certification; and the Aviation Electronics program, which teaches skills for the Federal Communications Commission's General Radiotelephone Operators license. Tuition for both programs runs $5,200 a three-month quarter. Including books, tools and other supplies, the school estimates students spend roughly $40,000 for either program. Students have the option of completing both programs in 33 months. Potential jobs for graduates range from positions in manufacturing at companies like GE Aviation, Rolls Royce and Boeing; research and development, like endeavors spearheaded by NASA and spa companies; and maintenance for commercial airlines, cargo carriers and private aircraft. Graduates frequently land outside of aviation. Mr. Sabold recalled interest from a company selling high-end lawn mowers for golf courses. Mr. Mottern, who is close to completing both the maintenance and electronics programs, said he has stayed in contact with H.B. Mellott, a rock-crushing company based in his hometown in Warfordsburg. Students at PIA don't seem to mind that class runs weekdays from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with no long breaks between semesters. The consistent schedule allows students to grasp the technical curriculum easily without risk of losing the skills. Ms. Ober said she gave a presentation to Mr. Mottern's class at Southern Fulton High School in Warfordsburg. The program appealed to Mr. Mottern, who worked on his father's farm and had experience with auto mechanics. "It's nice because there's no summer break, there's very minimal vacation," Mr. Mottern said - without a hint of sarcasm. "You get in here, you get your certifications, you get out." Other students said they grew up wanting manual and exciting jobs. "I didn't want to work in an office all my life, and I like doing hands-on things," said Kelly Matoney, a 20-year-old from Monroeville who met a PIA representative at a career fair. "I don't want my hobby to be my job," said Brandon Lee, 21, who said he loved working on cars at home but, unsurprisingly, didn't have a hangar in his backyard. The question becomes how schools like PIA can generate enough interest. The answer will likely come with an assist from major airlines and lawmakers who can help attract aeronautics business to the region, Mr. Sabold said. "They're starting to do a lot more because they know this is coming up," he said. "But we're on the forefront of some really good opportunities." http://www.post-gazette.com/business/career-workplace/2016/12/31/WorkZone-Aeronautics- institute-aims-to-attract-students-to-meet-future-aviation-demand/stories/201612250005 Back to Top LanzaTech Awarded $4M from DOE for Low Carbon Jet & Diesel Demonstration Facility CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - Dec 30, 2016) - Carbon recycling company, LanzaTech, has been selected by the Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) to receive a $4M award to design and plan a demonstration-scale facility using industrial off gases to produce 3M gallons/year of low carbon jet and diesel fuels. The facility will recycle industrial waste gases from steel manufacturing to produce a low cost ethanol intermediate "Lanzanol." Both Lanzanol and cellulosic ethanol will then be converted to jet fuel via the "Alcohol to Jet" (ATJ) process developed by LanzaTech and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The ATJ technology was initially developed with DOE funding by PNNL and subsequently scaled-up by LanzaTech to produce 4000 gallons of sustainable jet fuel from Lanzanol and other sources, as well as 600 gallons of diesel fuel, for fuel quality testing, certification and a proving flight with Virgin Atlantic. LanzaTech is currently building its first commercial ethanol facilities using waste gases, including one in China with China's largest steel company, Shougang, and one in Belgium with the world's largest steel manufacturer, ArcelorMittal. In the DOE funded project, LanzaTech will work with ArcelorMittal to evaluate US opportunities for leveraging this expertise to demonstrate an entirely new pathway to low carbon fuels from industrial wastes that are either flared or underutilized. "Economics and sustainability are key to realizing the potential of alternative aviation fuels," said Jennifer Holmgren, LanzaTech CEO. "Jet fuel accounts for as much as 40% of an airline's operating costs and the sector has made substantial commitments to reduce their CO2 emissions by 2025. So fuels must address both of these needs to succeed at commercial scale. Thanks to the Department of Energy, the partners in this project will accelerate the commercial production of low cost, low carbon jet, gasoline and diesel in the United States." To demonstrate process versatility, ethanol from other waste gas streams will be converted, including cellulosic ethanol produced via fermentation of biomass syngas by Aemetis. Ambitech, an Illinois-based engineering company, will be LanzaTech's engineering partner with additional engineering contributions from Aemetis. Other project partners include PNNL; technology providers Petron Scientech, CRI Catalyst Company, Nexceris and Gardner Denver Nash; Michigan Technological University, who will be evaluating the environmental footprint of the fuels being produced; and Audi, who will support by evaluating diesel and gasoline fuel properties. In addition the project has received support from Airlines for America (A4A) and the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), an aviation industry consortium focused on the near-term development and commercialization of sustainable alternative jet fuel for the aviation enterprise. Statements of Support: Suresh Baskaran, Chief Science and Technology Officer for the Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "The ability to produce tightly-specified aviation fuel or, alternatively, high-cetane diesel is a unique feature of this technology that will enhance its competitiveness in U.S. as well as global markets." Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis "We look forward to deepening our relationship with LanzaTech and using our cellulosic ethanol produced from California agricultural residues, to power jet planes and diesel trucks in the future." Steve Csonka, Executive Director of CAAFI "We are excited to see this demonstration-scale effort moving forward, and laud BETO's selection of LanzaTech and their unique technology for this award. The aviation enterprise remains committed to the use of competitively priced sustainable alternative jet fuel, and we look forward to continuing to work with LanzaTech on several ongoing efforts which we believe can lead to near-term full-scale commercialization." Professor David Shonnard, Director, Sustainable Futures Institute, Michigan Technological University "The Michigan Tech Sustainable Futures Institute is excited to continue our relationship with LanzaTech, helping them innovate and develop products that meet environmental goals in addition to technical and economic targets." Yogendra Sarin, President & CEO at Petron Scientech Inc. "Petron is pleased and excited to be working with LanzaTech to help bring ATJ technology to commercial demonstration through the application of Petron's Innovative and proprietary Ethylene technology. We believe this partnership will help greatly in the development of sustainable biojet fuels, while contributing to finding solutions to global warming." About LanzaTech LanzaTech's carbon recycling technology captures and recycles a broad spectrum of gases for fuel and chemical production. Across the supply chain, LanzaTech promotes a 'carbon smart' circular economy, where both gas providers and end users can be resource efficient by recycling or "sequestering" carbon into new products rather than making them from fossil reserves. Founded in New Zealand, LanzaTech has raised more than US$200 million from investors including Khosla Ventures, K1W1, Qiming Venture Partners, Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund, Petronas, Mitsui, Primetals, China International Capital Corp, Suncor and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. http://www.lanzatech.com http://www.pennenergy.com/marketwired-oilgas/2016/12/30/lanzatech-awarded-4m-from-doe-for- low-carbon-jet-diesel-demonstration-facility.html Back to Top SpaceX says it figured out why its rocket exploded and will fly again within days Four months after an explosion tore through its signature Falcon 9 rocket during fueling, destroying the rocket and its multimillion-dollar cargo in just 93 milliseconds, SpaceX says it has isolated what went wrong and is ready to fly again. If the Federal Aviation Administration issues the company a license, likely following the completion of a full-scale engine test scheduled for Jan. 3, the company will launch 10 communications satellites for Iridium on Jan. 8, including an attempt to land the reusable first stage of the rocket on a sea-going robotic platform. In a statement, Elon Musk's space company said the problem had to do with special tanks inside the rocket's engine, known as composite over-wrapped pressure vessels, or COPVS. Made of carbon fiber and lined with aluminum, the tanks are designed to hold cold helium under incredibly high pressure. They're fastened inside larger containers of super-cool liquid oxygen that is consumed to propel the rocket. In a series of tests, SpaceX found "buckles"-spaces between the aluminum liner and the carbon- fiber wrapping of the COPVs-where the liquid oxygen could pool; at the super-low temperatures SpaceX is working in, the oxygen could even become a solid. As the pressure in the tank increases, oxygen trapped in those buckles could be ignited if the carbon fibers crack or rub together to generate friction, an even higher risk when the oxygen becomes a solid. For upcoming launches, the company's engineers will re-configure the helium COPVs to keep them warmer, and also load propellant according to a method the company has previously used without incident more than 700 times. But, over the long term, SpaceX acknowledged that it will need to re-design its tanks to keep these "buckles" from occurring at all. This could pose a problem for the company's goal of making its rockets largely reusable to drive down the costs of space access. In 2016, SpaceX began a new pre-flight fueling process that allowed it to use even colder liquid oxygen in its rockets; because the cold liquid oxygen is so dense, more can be stored into in a tank of the same volume, allowing the rocket to fly further, including returning to earth after a mission. The innovative fueling process was considered important to creating full reusability of the rocket, with Musk telling MIT students in 2014 that "when the propellants are cooled close to their freezing temperature to increase the density, we could definitely do full reusability." COPV technology has long been seen as useful for rocket construction, but engineers at NASA and other companies have encountered problems when the organic material in the carbon interacts and even combusts with the liquid oxygen frequently used as a propellant. SpaceX appeared to have solved these problems and takes great pride in its carbon-wrapping technology; Musk's company is currently testing an enormous COPV intended for use in the company's mooted inter-planetary vehicle. A successful launch in the days ahead would be a boon for SpaceX, which has a crowded manifest of commercial launches to attend to after missing the last quarter of 2016. The company also promises to debut its new Falcon Heavy rocket this year and is planning for a fall test flight of its Dragon 2 spacecraft, which the company hopes to be the first private vessel to carry astronauts in 2018. SpaceX watchers had been expecting the company to return to flight soon; it had originally anticipated a mid-December launch date. Over the weekend, there was another preview when Iridium reported that its satellites had been loaded into the shell that will protect them when the rocket takes off. http://qz.com/876447/spacex-says-it-figured-out-why-its-rocket-exploded-and-will-fly-again- within-days/ Curt Lewis