March 27, 2017 - No. 025 In This Issue Elon Musk's SpaceX on brink of `Wright Brothers moment' with reused rocket Trans States Airlines And Vincennes University Form Partnership Dual civil aviation programme launched in Mumbai Teamsters: "Advice of Senior Aircraft Technicians Ignored by NetJets Management" Cruz Associates Awarded $140M SOCOM Specialized Technical Services IDIQ Silverhawk Aviation to develop STCs for Gogo Biz 4G Senators Reintroduce Aircraft Cyber Security Legislation Thales Scores Big Win From AirAsia NBAA, University of North Dakota Launch Business Aviation Fatigue Study Elon Musk's SpaceX on brink of `Wright Brothers moment' with reused rocket If the rocket that Elon Musk's SpaceX expects to launch this week looks familiar, that's because it is. The Falcon 9 rocket scheduled to take off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, has flown before, marking the first time Space Exploration Technologies will reuse one of the 14- story-tall boosters it recovered from past missions. The reused rocket will ferry a communications satellite into orbit for Luxembourg-based SES, SpaceX's first commercial customer, and signals a leap forward in Musk's 15-year-quest to drive down launch costs and eventually create a human colony on Mars. "This is a Wright Brothers moment for space," said Phil Larson, a former space-policy adviser to President Barack Obama who worked for SpaceX and is now at the University of Colorado. "It's as important as the first plane taking off and landing and taking off again." The rocket originally flew in April 2016 before landing successfully on an unmanned drone ship bobbing in the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX has now recovered eight rockets in total: three by land and five by sea. The first rocket that was recovered is a huge source of pride and is now installed in front of the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. "The satellite industry needs more launch vehicles, and we need more access to space," SES's Chief Technology Officer Martin Halliwell said in an interview. "Rockets that can be flown, recovered and relaunched again help enormously. This is a hugely important milestone." Once derided as a crazy idea, rocket reusability is now seen as key to making space travel affordable. Blue Origin, the space-exploration company founded by Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, is working on New Glenn, a rocket with a reusable first stage that's targeting its first flight in 2020. Parts of the Space Shuttle boosters were refurbishable, but no company has pulled off the "rapid reusability" that SpaceX is targeting to lower launch costs, said Larson, the former Obama adviser. Recovering and refurbishing the used rocket booster that's scheduled to fly again on Wednesday took SpaceX roughly four months, President Gwynne Shotwell said on a panel at an industry conference in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. Eventually, that turnaround time will drop to a single day as the company aims to reuse rockets much in the way airplanes operate today. "I think Elon's given us 24 hours, maybe, to get done what we need to get done, and it's not a million people around a rocket scurrying like a beehive or an anthill," said Shotwell. "That vehicle needs to be designed to be reflown right away." The cost of a Falcon 9 launch is roughly $62 million, according to SpaceX's website, with modest discounts available for contractually committed, multilaunch purchases. SES, which has flown with SpaceX twice before, was the first commercial satellite operator to launch with the company back in 2013. The SES satellite taking flight this week will enhance coverage for Latin America. The company has contracted with SpaceX for four additional missions, according to Halliwell. "We won't discuss the exact price, but we got a certain discount for being the first in line," he said. SpaceX, founded by CEO Musk in 2002, builds the Falcon 9 as well as the rocket's Merlin engines in-house, taking a Silicon Valley approach to constant improvements and a tight collaboration between design and manufacturing. Musk has brought in executives from other industries to promote innovation. Andy Lambert, SpaceX's vice president of production, previously spent more than a decade at BMW. SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to resupply the International Space Station and a second pact valued at as much as $2.6 billion to transport crews to the orbiting lab. The company was recently awarded its second contract to fly missions for the U.S. Air Force and plans to send two private citizens on a trip around the moon late next year. The reused rocket was first flown in April with the CRS-8 mission, a cargo resupply mission to the space station. If Wednesday's launch goes off without a hitch - and the rocket booster is once again recovered on the drone ship - SES will get its own piece of spaceflight history as a memento. "Gwynne has promised us parts of the rocket," Halliwell said. "We want them for the SES board room." http://www.seattletimes.com/business/elon-musks-spacex-on-brink-of-wright-brothers-moment- with-reused-rocket/ Back to Top Trans States Airlines And Vincennes University Form Partnership (VINCENNES) - Trans States Airlines and Vincennes University have entered a Pilot Pathway partnership that will provide future employment opportunities for pilots graduating from VU. "Vincennes University will use its best effort to send qualified pilots to Trans States for employment and the company will use its best efforts to have these pilots trained and online as a first officer as quickly as possible," said Michael Gehrich, director of Aviation for VU. Under the agreement, Trans States guarantees an interview for conditional employment to any VU flight training student. Both Trans States and VU agree to work closely to ensure that all candidates are of the highest quality and consistently demonstrate the work ethic, flying skill, aviation knowledge, professional attitude and demeanor, and personal qualifications to perform as a successful crew member for Trans States. "Trans States relies on a robust pipeline of high-quality and safety-focused pilots, and the Vincennes University training program provides just that," said Keith Stamper, director of Flight Operations at Trans States Airlines. "We look forward to welcoming Vincennes University pilots to the Trans States flight deck." Under the two-year agreement, each qualified pilot candidate who completes an interview, passes a simulator evaluation, is offered employment, and reports for ground school, will be paid by Trans States a total of $10,000 in tuition reimbursement. The VU Aviation Technology Center is located at the Indianapolis International Airport. It features VU degree programs in Aviation Maintenance and Aviation Flight. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for airline and commercial pilots was $102,520 in May 2015 with employment projected to grow through 2024. To find out more about this partnership and additional scholarships for Aviation Flight majors, call Vincennes University's Aviation Technology Center at 317-381-6000. http://www.wbiw.com/local/archive/2017/03/-trans-states-airlines-and-vincennes-university-form- partnership.php Back to Top Dual civil aviation programme launched in Mumbai Mumbai: Pawan Hans, a premier helicopter service provider, and the University of Mumbai signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate the launch of a dual aviation programme. The programme, designed to help fill a skills gap in the general civil aviation sector, will start of with 60 students each year. It will combine the University of Mumbai's B.Sc. in Aeronautics with an aircraft maintenance engineering (AME) course offered by the Pawan Hans Training Institute (PHTI) and recognised by India's Directorate of Civil Aviation. PHTI students are trained to a level of competence in Indian, European, American and Russia aircraft maintenance processes and manufacturing techniques and benefit from Pawan Hans' helicopter fleet and its knowledge-imparting platforms - something making the course unique in the industry. The training curriculum will see students exposed to on-the-job training as they work on several different types of helicopters. Students seeking to be enrolled will be required to purchase inquiry forms either through PHTI or Mumbai University's Garware Institute of Career Education and Development, at the Kalina Campus. http://gulfnews.com/news/asia/india/dual-civil-aviation-programme-launched-in-mumbai- 1.2000244 Back to Top Teamsters: "Advice of Senior Aircraft Technicians Ignored by NetJets Management" The Teamsters Airline Division and Teamsters Local 284 are concerned that NetJets management is ignoring a growing shortage of qualified aircraft mechanics to the detriment of customers, workers and the business itself. "Senior aircraft technicians are telling the management that they need more mechanics in the field, but management is ignoring their advice," said Chris Moore, Chairman of the Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition. "Instead of trying to recruit and retain the mostly highly skilled technicians, the company refuses to pay industry-standard wages and continues to outsource high levels of critical maintenance. The situation on the shop floor at NetJets is going from bad to worse every day. These maintenance workers are angry at management and they have run out of patience." NetJets mechanics and other safety employees have not received a pay increase for more than five years. The company and the union have been in contract negotiations for nearly six years. The union blames management's outsourcing philosophy and low-pay proposals for the delay. NetJets Aviation and NetJets Sales only employ 111 aircraft mechanics to work on its fleet of approximately 400 aircraft. Other major airlines employ up to 10 mechanics for every one aircraft. "We don't believe that the customers have all the facts when it comes to who is performing the maintenance on their aircraft," said Mark Vandak, President of Local 284 in Columbus. "The reality of the situation is that the majority of people performing critical aircraft maintenance don't work for NetJets. When our members complain, they're told that NetJets isn't in the maintenance business. NetJets flies airplanes for profit. That makes no sense whatsoever." In contract negotiations, management continues to reject union proposals that would result in the assignment of more critical maintenance functions to mechanics, as well as measures that would support workers employed by NetJets. Mechanics say that they sit idle while individuals who work for third parties perform maintenance procedures on customer aircraft, sometimes at the very same location where skilled NetJets technicians are located. "It's unacceptable that NetJets has caused a situation where its own highly skilled aircraft technicians and maintenance support workers have to try to convince management to assign them critical maintenance work at competitive wages," said Capt. David Bourne, Director of the Teamsters Airline Division. "The customers pay for a premium service. We believe they expect NetJets to have a well- developed, in-house maintenance system staffed by highly paid aircraft maintenance professionals. With a worsening shortage of qualified mechanics, management needs to work with us, not against us, to solve a very real problem." The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Teamsters Airline Division and Local 284 represent mechanics, maintenance control, aircraft fuelers, aircraft cleaners and stock clerks. The Columbus- based business jet operator is owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway. http://aviationtribune.com/executive-helicopters/teamsters-advice-senior-aircraft-technicians- ignored-netjets-management/ Back to Top Cruz Associates Awarded $140M SOCOM Specialized Technical Services IDIQ Cruz Associates has won a potential 10-year, $140 million contract to provide aviation-related technical support services to the U.S. Special Operations Command's technology applications contracting office. The Defense Departmentsaid Thursday the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract covers specialized support for the U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command, Systems Integration and Management Office and the Aviation Maintenance Support Office. SOCOM will obligate $4.3 million for an initial task order slated to be awarded in April and DoD noted the obligated amount will cover the contract's minimum guarantee value of $100,000. The command received two proposals for the contract via a small business set-aside competition. Work will occur at Fort Campbell in Kentucky and other duty locations. Yorktown, Virginia-based Cruz Associates offers acquisition management, aviation lifecycle support, energetics production, engineering and technical services, ordnance operations, test and evaluation services for industry and government clients including the General Services Administration. https://www.govconwire.com/2017/03/cruz-associates-awarded-140m-socom-specialized- technical-services-idiq/ Back to Top Silverhawk Aviation to develop STCs for Gogo Biz 4G Gogo Business Aviation says Silverhawk Aviation is to develop Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) for its new Gogo Biz 4G service, ahead of its scheduled launch in the first half of 2017. Silverhawk Aviation is an authorised full-service maintenance, repair and overhaul Gogo dealer. The company will develop STCs for Gogo's 4G system for the Cessna Citation 560 series aircraft, and will participate as a partner for hardware sales and installations on other business aircraft. Gene Luce, Maintenance Manager for Silverhawk Aviation, said: "The new 4G system from Gogo is one of the leading connectivity solutions our customers ask us about. "We currently have installed several of Gogo's ATG 2000 and ATG 5000 systems. "Our team of factory trained and experienced avionics technicians are ready to install, certify and turn on Gogo's system on many of the Citations we currently service, and many more beyond our current client base." Gogo says Gogo Biz 4G will deliver a 4G experience with reliable connectivity for passengers over existing technologies. The new service will include services such as Gogo Vision, providing the latest movies and TV episodes, flight tracker, weather reports, and additional features; Gogo Text & Talk, allowing passengers to call and text with their personal smart phones and mobile numbers; streaming video and audio; as well as face-to-face conversations with a user's favourite applications; email with attachments; and web browsing - on a proven network in the continental U.S. and large portions of Alaska and Canada. The Silverhawk STC will cover the following airframes in the 560 series: * Citation V (model 560-0001 thru 560-0259) * Ultra (model 560-0260 through 560-0538) * Encore (model 560-0539 through 560-0750) * Encore+ (model 560-0751 through 560-0815) * C560XL/XLS and XLS+ "Silverhawk Aviation has experienced tremendous success and is a valued and trusted Gogo partner," said Andy Geist, Senior Vice President of Business Aviation Solutions for Gogo. "As the launch of Gogo Biz 4G service gets closer to reality we will increasingly rely on top dealers like Silverhawk Aviation to ensure our customers receive the care and attention they deserve. "We thank Silverhawk for developing these STCs which are critical to the system's adoptability." Created specifically for the business aviation market, Gogo's 4G system is a specially-designed application of Gogo's air-to-ground technology that leverages its existing ground network of more than 250 towers, fibre backhaul and technology that has already flown hundreds of thousands of hours aboard thousands of business and commercial aircraft. The 4G equipment package will incorporate a dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi service and a host of other features - all from a single, lightweight box. Gogo recently received Supplemental Type Certification (STC) approval from the FAA for the Gogo Biz 4G system hardware, and is on track to begin shipments later in the second quarter of 2017. For those interested in adding Gogo Biz 4G, upgrade programmes are available for new and existing ATG customers. http://www.getconnected.aero/2017/03/silverhawk-aviation-stcs-gogo-biz-4g/ Back to Top Senators Reintroduce Aircraft Cyber Security Legislation Two U.S. lawmakers have reintroduced legislation that would require the disclosure of information relating to cyberattacks on aircraft systems and maintenance and ground support systems for aircraft. Under the proposed legislation, airlines and original equipment manufacturers would be required to disclose to the FAA any attempted or successful cyberattack on any system onboard an aircraft. U.S. Senators Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal Wednesday announced the reintroduction of the Cybersecurity Standards for Aircraft to Improve Resilience Act of 2017 (Cyber Air Act). Markey first introduced legislation aimed at improving aircraft cyber security protection in April 2016, following a survey of U.S. airline CEOs, Airbus and Boeing in 2015 to discover standard cybersecurity protocols used by the aviation industry. If signed into law, the bill would require the U.S. Transportation Dept. to work with the U.S. departments of Defense and Homeland Security, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the director of national intelligence to incorporate requirements relating to cybersecurity into the requirements for obtaining an air carrier operating certificate or a production certificate. There would also be new requirements for all "entry points" to the electronic systems of aircraft operating in the U.S. to be equipped with new methods for protection against cyber attacks. This would include the use of isolation measures to separate critical software systems from noncritical software systems. Awareness of the possible threats from introducing more Internet Protocol onto aircraft has increased, especially among regulatory agencies, lawmakers, airline passengers and mainstream media outlets in recent years, after a professional hacker, Chris Roberts, claimed that he was able to use a cabin-based in-flight entertainment system to control a Boeing 777 engine in flight. While manufacturers of internet-facing aircraft systems already heavily test their technology for cybersecurity risks before integrating them into aircraft technology architectures, Markey has been seeking to increase the FAA's ability to regulate cyber security protocols across the various segments of the commercial aviation community. The FAA has also taken steps to improve its regulation of aircraft-related cybersecurity protection mechanisms in recent years, including assigning the agency's Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee with the task of providing new cybersecurity recommendations. In November, the committee submitted recommendations, which were not publicly released. However, Markey and Blumenthal summarized the recommendations in a letter to the FAA after they were submitted. That summary said the recommendations included mandating periodic evaluation, testing and updating of cybersecurity protections, and requiring aircraft to separate critical flight control systems from noncritical software systems such as in-flight entertainment technology. Aircraft designs already feature this type of separation by separating their data transmission systems into three separate domains, including the aircraft control domain used by pilots for communicating with air traffic control, airlines operations center (AOC) and gaining access to weather updates and noncritical AOC messages. The second domain is the aircraft information services domain primarily used for flight operations and maintenance to gain access to aircraft maintenance data and softwawre updates. The third domain is the passenger services one used in the cabin for in-flight entertainment. However, it appears the lawmakers want to ensure the FAA stipulates this as a regulation for new airframe designs. The letter also noted a recommendation for the FAA to establish a process for information sharing about cybersecurity threats, attacks and protections among airlines, aircraft original equipment manufacturers and government agencies. At this point, the Cyber Air Act has simply been reintroduced. Moving forward, it will be referred to a committee for consideration. There has yet to be a discernible timeline for this motion. http://www.aviationtoday.com/2017/03/24/senators-reintroduce-aircraft-cyber-security-legislation/ Back to Top Thales Scores Big Win From AirAsia AirAsia has contracted Thales to provide long-term repair-by-the-hour support for the avionics systems Thales and its ACSS joint venture with L3 Aviation Products will provide for the 304 Airbus A320neos the Asian low-cost carrier group has ordered. Thales will equip AirAsia's 304 A320neos--deliveries of which began last October--with its TopFlight flight management system (FMS), along with the Thales/ACSS T3CAS Surveillance platform. ACSS (Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems) is 70 percent-owned by L3 Aviation Products and 30 percent-owned by Thales. Each A320neo in AirAsia's fleet also will have a Thales low-range radio altimeter and a Thales emergency location transmitters installed. "The Asian aviation market is one of the most competitive in the world. Carriers like AirAsia must strive to the highest levels of aircraft utilization and efficiency in order to succeed," says Eric Huber, Thales' vice-president and general manager of avionics services worldwide. According to Thales, the range of avionics and component maintenance services it has developed, such as its "Repair By The Hour" and "Avionics By The Hour" programs, has proved to be successful in serving the specific needs of its customer base in the Asia-Pacific region. The Paris-headquartered aerospace group is no stranger to AirAsia, having partnered with Asia's largest low-cost carrier since 2005. The airline not only has installed Thales systems in all of the group's 200 existing A320s, but it also has selected the French company to provide all maintenance and support operations for the systems if produces. According to Thales, its TopFlight FMS has won approximately a 70 percent market share on the Airbus A320neo and A330neo families to date. Thales claims its FMS has several key differentiating features compared with competing flight management systems, including "what you see is what you fly" technology and temporary flight plan capability. Thales' TopFlight FMS includes the latest certified Airbus Release 1A software. According to the company, its FMS offers flight crews unique features such as secondary flight plan and realistic navigation trajectory computations, along with FMS landing system capabilities. The Thales/ACSS T3CAS Surveillance platform integrates a traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS), a terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) and a transponder in a single six- microcontroller unit (6 MCU) box on Airbus single-aisle aircraft. T3CAS offers Required Navigation Performance--Authorization Required (RNP AR), Airborne Traffic Situational Awareness (ADS-B IN ATSAW) capability, full compliance with Airbus' Runway Overrun Protection System (ROPS) and the first ADS-B OUT DO-260B compliant transponder on the market, according to Thales and ACSS. The performance-based TAWS embedded in the T3CAS Surveillance platform uses a high-resolution terrain database that will allow equipped aircraft to perform RNP AR approaches to airports located in challenging mountainous terrain. T3CAS is compliant with existing and future ATM requirements in Europe, the U.S. and Asia Pacific regions and opens the way for ADS-B IN capabilities, according to Thales. In addition to offering integrated TCAS Change 7.1 and performance-based TAWS capabilities, along with an ADS-B-capable transponder, T3CAS also offers a full range of Airbus ADS-B IN functions such as ATSA-AIRB (enhanced Air Traffic Surveillance) and ATSA-ITP (In Trail Procedure) for the manufacturer's single-aisle aircraft and widebodies. http://www.mro-network.com/avionics-instruments/thales-scores-big-win-airasia Back to Top NBAA, University of North Dakota Launch Business Aviation Fatigue Study NBAA is coordinating with the University of North Dakota (UND) to conduct a survey regarding fatigue and crew duty issues in business aviation. UND graduate student and business aircraft pilot Tim Wollmuth is partnering with NBAA to collect the data. It's the first comprehensive study of fatigue issues since a 2000 study was released through NASA and conducted by Dr. Mark Rosekind, former NTSB member and current administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The survey is now open to NBAA members, and will conclude April 21. Rosekind's study focused primarily on pilots, but the new NBAA/UND study will not only look at aviators, but also maintenance personnel (including technicians who travel with the aircraft), cabin crew, schedulers and dispatchers and others in business aviation who work in safety-sensitive functions. The survey will cover areas such as duty information for various crew positions, single-pilot operations, specific questions on sleep and fatigue, demographics and questions for management. "We know from the NBAA Safety Committee's annual risk assessment survey that fatigue remains a top concern of our membership," said Mark Larsen, NBAA's senior manager of safety and flight operations. "We welcome participant feedback in this study to understand in detail the current state of business aviation fatigue, to see what things look like 17 years after the Rosekind study, including such factors as the increased number of ultra-long range aircraft in service since that time, so we can best understand how to address and mitigate this safety issue." The survey is the result of work conducted by the NBAA Safety Committee, Flight Attendant Safety/Training Subcommittee and Business Aviation Management Committee, in conjunction with Wollmuth and UND. Once the results have been aggregated, the data will be used to update the NBAA Management Guide and other information related to fatigue in business aviation. View the survey. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12319167/nbaa-university-of-north-dakota-launch- business-aviation-fatigue-study Curt Lewis