June 1, 2017 - No. 044 In This Issue Tomorrow, SpaceX Will Forever Transform Space Flight FAA Proposes Fine Against United Airlines for Allegedly Flying Unsafe Plane 23 Times VU, Aviation Academy Partner Airbus Plans To Unveil New Predictive Maintenance System in 2018 JetBlue Introduces Technology Allowing You To Check In With Selfie Pratt & Whitney Says New PW1000G Core Will Cut Fuel Burn Bombardier Grows MRO Capabilities Reinventing the Helicopter After 78 Years AOGsmart Launched to Cut Time and Cost of Critical Parts Sourcing Tomorrow, SpaceX Will Forever Transform Space Flight WHY IS THIS DRAGON SPECIAL? Tomorrow (June 1, 2017) will be a landmark date for commercial space travel. SpaceX is set to become the first privately owned company to perform multiple orbital flights to space using the same aircraft. On 21st September 2014, using the Falcon 9 rocket, this same Dragon CRS-4 delivered 2.5 tons of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). Since, this time, it has been refurbished and the launch window for its second cargo flight opens at 5:55pm ET. It is one of only a handful of previous multi-orbit space flights - and all of the others were undertaken by governments. They include: the NASA orbiters Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery, and Endeavour, which made dozens of missions but were hideously expensive to repair. There was also the X-37B, which Boeing built under commission by the U.S Air Force, and the Soviet VA spacecraft, which only orbited the Earth once on its second voyage. While it is unclear how much the Dragon CRS-4 has had to be repaired, and exactly how much it cost, the savings are expected to be considerable. Moreover, this is nonetheless a landmark in breaching the final frontier, as private individuals are truly entering the space race, and this will play a major role in making space both commercially available and also affordable. WHAT ARE SPACEX'S OTHER PLANS? However, ultimately, SpaceX is about far more than just making spaceflight affordable. SpaceX started with the "ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets" - the first planet Musk's space company aims to colonize is Mars. In order to do so, Musk plans to build the BFR . This stands for, in his own words, the Big F*cking Rocket, which will ferry the reusable Mars Colonial Transporter to the Red Planet. He has stated previously that he plans to put the first person on Mars by 2025. A test launch of the Falcon Heavy, the rocket that bridges the gap between the Falcon 9 and the BFR was recently test launched, and its first full launch is planned for sometime this summer. Musk argues that humanity reaching Mars and other planets is pivotal. As He stated in an interview with aeon: "I think there is a strong humanitarian argument for making life multi-planetary", and that this has to start with Mars because, "if we can establish a Mars colony, we can almost certainly colonise the whole Solar System, because we'll have created a strong economic forcing function for the improvement of space travel." The process, though, has to move in gradations - and this relaunch of the Dragon is a major milestone in Musk's plan. https://futurism.com/4-year-of-the-dragon-how-spacex-hopes-to-make-history-tomorrow/ Back to Top FAA Proposes Fine Against United Airlines for Allegedly Flying Unsafe Plane 23 Times The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday proposed a $435,000 fine against United Airlines for purportedly operating an airplane "that was not in airworthy condition." In June 2014, United mechanics replaced a fuel pump pressure switch on one of the carrier's Boeing 747 jetliners. But the FAA claims that the airline did not complete a required inspection of the repair before the plane resumed flying. United flew the aircraft on 23 domestic and international passenger flights before the inspection was ultimately performed, according to the FAA. The plane may have even made two flights after the FAA notified United about the problem, the agency said. "Maintaining the highest levels of safety depends on operators closely following all applicable rules and regulations," FAA chief Michael Huerta said in a statement. "Failing to do so can create unsafe conditions." United, in a statement, provided a slightly different account of what happened. "We immediately took action after identifying the issue and are working closely with the FAA in their review," spokesperson Charles Hobart said. The FAA said that United has asked to meet with the agency to "discuss the case." United has had a tough year. The airline was pummeled with bad press after a passenger was violently dragged off one of its flights in April after refusing to give up his seat. Video of the encounter quickly went viral. The airline has since settled a suit brought by the passenger, Dr. David Dao, for an undisclosed amount. Smaller incidents, such as a 3-foot-long rabbit that was found dead after it flew with United, have also hurt the company's public image. http://ktla.com/2017/05/31/faa-proposes-fine-against-united-airlines-for-allegedly-flying-unsafe- plane-23-times/ Back to Top VU, Aviation Academy Partner INDIANAPOLIS - Vincennes University has announced a partnership designed to serve as a pathway to careers in aviation. The collaboration with the Indianapolis Aviation Career Education Academy and VU's Aviation Technology Center at Indianapolis International Airport involves exposure and training for high school students to positions in maintenance and flight. In a news release, VU Aviation Technology Director Michael Gehrich says: "We have partnerships with companies such as Republic Airlines and Ameriflight, as well as an internship program with AAR, where our aviation maintenance students can work in the industry while they are completing their training here. Significantly, the ATC is the only school nation-wide to have a co-op program with Fed Ex. All of these partnerships help to ensure the placement of our graduates upon completion of their program. Demand for pilots remains strong and the Aviation Technology Center has experienced 100 percent placement of aviation maintenance graduates for several years, with graduates working for such companies as Rolls-Royce, Triumph Aviation, Textron, United, Comlux, and Muncie Aviation, in addition to Fed Ex, AAR and Republic." A year ago, VU showcased a $6 million renovation of its Aviation Technology Center, which includes a fully-functional Boeing 737. http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/story/35557411/vu-aviation-academy-partner Back to Top Airbus Plans To Unveil New Predictive Maintenance System in 2018 Airbus has approached predictive maintenance from two approaches but plans to converge them in 2018. The first, its aircraft-centric method, is a digital program called Prognostics and Risk-Management (PRM) that Delta Airlines became launch customer for in 2016 following a year-long collaboration with Airbus. This Web-based application combines calculations based on a tailored aircraft condition monitoring system report loaded in an aircraft, parameters collected inflight and sent to the ground via ACARS, and algorithms to detect aircraft system degradations, says Vincent Swiderski, digital business development, Airbus Services, speaking at Aviation Week Network's ap&m Summit. By using PRM for three sets of parts, Airbus has saved operators $550,000 over 12 months from monitoring just a few parts on 40 Airbus A330s. They included 27 valves in ATA Chapter 36, two crew oxygen systems in ATA Chapter 35 and one heat exchanger in ATA Chapter 21. Bench tests confirmed all of the removed parts using PRM were due to fail, says Swiderski. "This savings is just the tip of the iceberg" because just three ATA chapter parts group were followed, he adds. Airbus' other predictive maintenance approach, a data-centric one with which it is partnering with easyJet, takes data from various sources, stores it in an Airbus cloud then applies algorithms based on end user experience and engagement. Airbus has predicted maintenance events with this approach and says it's a "powerful way to contextualize information," but stresses end user feedback is key to define and validate the right alerts. For the rest of the year, Airbus will continue prototyping and validating both the aircraft- and data- centric approaches until converging the systems in the first quarter 2018. Swiderski says Airbus targets a 5-10% maintenance cost reduction through the combined system. http://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/airbus-plans-unveil-new-predictive- maintenance-system-2018 Back to Top JetBlue Introduces Technology Allowing You To Check In With Selfie JetBlue has announced a new boarding program that will allow its customers to board flights using selfies, reports Travel + Leisure. The airline has partnered with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and aviation IT company SITA on a facial recognition technology to verify a passenger's identity with their boarding pass. With this tech, passengers who opt in to the biometric ID process won't have to present a paper or electronic boarding pass. Instead, they will just have to step up to a camera and take a photo. From there, the photo will be sent to CBP where it will be matched to passport, visa or immigration photos in the CBP database. Simultaneously, the system will verify flight details. "Self-boarding eliminates boarding pass scanning and manual passport checks," said Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue's executive vice president customer experience. "Just look into the camera and you're on your way." JetBlue's new "self-boarding" tech will roll out in June, initially introduced on flights from Boston's Logan International Airport to Queen Beatrix International Airport in Aruba. http://www.ballerstatus.com/2017/05/31/jetblue-introduces-technology-allowing-check-selfie/ Back to Top Pratt & Whitney Says New PW1000G Core Will Cut Fuel Burn Pratt & Whitney is planning to achieve additional 5 to 7 percent fuel-burn reductions from its PW1000G geared turbofans by the mid-2020s through the adoption of a higher-technology core for the PW1000G family than the core the engines have now. Interviewed by AIN at the engine maker's annual media event on Wednesday at its development, production and testing facility at West Palm Beach in Florida, Pratt & Whitney president Robert Leduc said PW1000Gengines could achieve up to 7 percent lower fuel burn if the PW1000G's core incorporated more advanced technologies than those it has now. "GE, with the [CFM International] Leap X, used core technology," to produce the 15 percent lower fuel burn offered by the Leap-1A powering the Airbus A320neo family compared with that offered by CFM's predecessor A320 engine, the CFM56-5B, said Leduc. Pratt & Whitney opted to used geared turbofan technology instead to produce the 16 percent lower fuel burned by the PW1100G- JM compared with Pratt & Whitney's predecessor A320 engine, the IAE V2500-A5. However, he added, "We believe there is five to seven percent more improvement by the mid-2020s...if we step up the core technology injection," to produce a PW1000G core as advanced as that of the Leap program. While the PW1000G's existing hybrid-aluminum fan blade design is, claimed Leduc, the most efficient fan blade, because using aluminum allows its airfoil to be very thin and therefore more than 98 percent efficient, the next-generation engines will have higher operating pressure ratios and higher temperatures at the back of the compressor. "So we will need a more efficient compressor to keep the temperature down," said Leduc. "We'll need 2 to 3 percent better efficiency than historically." Additionally, Leduc predicted that the company will need ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) to make next-generation engines. Although Pratt & Whitney chose not to incorporate CMCs into its initial PW1000G core, it manufactures CMC parts for the F135 engine for Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. For Pratt & Whitney's commercial aircraft engines, the company believes CMCs will be ready for production in 5 to 10 years. Meanwhile, Chris Calio, president of Pratt & Whitney Commercial Engines, confirmed that the company has completed developing improved combustor lining material and an improved carbon air seal for the PW1100G-JM's Number 3 bearing. Together, distressed carbon air seals and degraded combustor linings have led to approximately 50 premature removals of PW1100G-JM engines from A320neos, most of them operated by Indian carriers GoAir and Indigo. "We completed the full retrofit of [already] fitted engines on about 50 aircraft about three weeks ago," said Calio. "The full suite of hardware and software fixes is in today's [new] production PW1100G-JMs." Another current PW1100G-JM issue, a combustor "shriek" caused by excessive vibration, has been attributed to issues relating to the regulation of air pressure in the number three bearing seal. Calio explained that it has been solved by new engine control software and an improved carbon air seal. Pratt & Whitney has incorporated all these fixes in an improved PW1100G-JM combustor designated "CSTARS," which is now undergoing testing at the company's System Engineering Development Assembly Engine Center in West Palm Beach. CSTARS is the combustor Pratt &Whitney will use to achieve extended twin engine operations (ETOPS) certification for the PW1100G-JM, which it is targeting for this year's fourth quarter. "We remain cautiously optimistic about [achieving] ETOPS in the fourth quarter," said Calio. "We're meeting all the performance requirements and the regulatory agencies now have the paperwork" associated with P&W's ETOPS certification testing. Deliveries of Hawaiian Airlines' A321neos, planned to begin this year, are dependent on the PW1100G-JM achieving ETOPS certification, because all its services between Hawaii and U.S. mainland destinations are ETOPS operations. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2017-05-31/pratt-whitney-says-new- pw1000g-core-will-cut-fuel-burn Back to Top Bombardier Grows MRO Capabilities Bombardier is expanding its MRO capabilities to include hydraulic component maintenance and repair services across Airbus, Boeing and its own aircraft types. From its MRO center in Belfast, the aircraft manufacturer's aerostructures and engineering services division now has capacity for full inspection, testing, repair and overhaul of individual hydraulic components and assemblies. Stephen Addis, vice-president, programs, customer services and business development at Bombardier's Northern Ireland operations, says the expanded capabilities give the OEM a more comprehensive aftermarket offering. "The development of this hydraulics repair capability allows us to offer a more comprehensive aftermarket service to our customers, which is complementary to our current service offering, and now includes a full nacelle thrust reverser repair service provided in-house," he says. Bombardier's existing MRO services include component repair and overhaul of engine nacelles, flight control surfaces, landing gear and electrical harnessing, as well as technical support, modification and repair development, inspection and testing, parts exchange or lease, and mobile repair assistance. http://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/bombardier-grows-mro-capabilities Back to Top Reinventing the Helicopter After 78 Years CINCINNATI, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Workhorse Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WKHS), an American technology company focused on providing sustainable and cost-effective solutions to the electric transportation sector, today announced it will unveil its SureFly™ helicopter concept at the Paris Air Show on June 19. "The helicopter has been around for 78 years and is finally being reinvented," said Stephen Burns, CEO of Workhorse. "We're excited to unveil the SureFly on the world stage as we believe it represents a major step forward for the global aviation industry. We've designed SureFly by leveraging our expertise in battery-electric powered mobility, controls and gas generators to accelerate the speed to market in this sector." The goal of SureFly is to be safer and more stable than a typical helicopter due to its redundant design which includes four propeller arms, two fixed contra-rotating propellers on each arm, a backup battery to drive the electric motors in the event of engine failure and a ballistic parachute that safely brings down the craft if needed. SureFly's hybrid design leverages Workhorse's platform battery packaging, management systems and controls utilized in its currently commercialized medium-duty, range-extended battery electric vehicles. It features a gas combustion engine generating electricity and a parallel battery pack offering a redundant backup power source, eliminates the need for long battery charging periods between flights. SureFly is designed to be easy to operate, and is expected to be capable of carrying two passengers up to 70 miles. After a quick refill, SureFly is ready for the next hop. Early models will be pilot-operated. The goal is to introduce future models featuring autonomous flight capable of carrying payloads of up to 400 pounds. Anticipated markets for the SureFly are precision agriculture, emergency responders, city commuters and military. Workhorse plans to begin test flights this year and intends to achieve Federal Aviation Administration certification in late 2019. About Workhorse Group Inc. Workhorse is a technology company focused on providing sustainable and cost-effective solutions to the commercial transportation sector. As an American original equipment manufacturer, we design and build high performance battery-electric vehicles including trucks and aircraft. We also develop cloud-based, real-time telematics performance monitoring systems that are fully integrated with our vehicles and enable fleet operators to optimize energy and route efficiency. All Workhorse vehicles are designed to make the movement of people and goods more efficient and less harmful to the environment. For additional information visit www.workhorse.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news- releases/reinventing-the-helicopter-after-78-years-workhorse-group-inc-will-unveil-surefly-concept- at-paris-air-show-june-19-300466129.html http://www.aviationpros.com/news/12339417/reinventing-the-helicopter-after-78-years- workhorse-group-inc-will-unveil-sureflytm-concept-at-paris-air-show-june-19 Back to Top AOGsmart Launched to Cut Time and Cost of Critical Parts Sourcing A start-up company went live with a platform designed to facilitate faster solutions to airline AOG (aircraft on ground) incidents, which can cost airlines up to $100,000 per day when an aircraft is stuck on the ground. With 500,000 AOG incidents each year, airlines can be exposed to $7 million annually in AOG costs, says Frederick Ilouno, managing director AOGsmart, who thinks the AOGsmart platform can reduce that cost by 50% and save airlines 25-30% of AOG downtime. In testing the platform with TUI airline group's chart operation, AOGsmart saved the airline half of its AOG downtime. Ilouno says 50 airlines and 270 suppliers have sign up for the digital service that allows airlines to input the AOG location, part number, ATA chapter, condition (new or used serviceable material), part type (OEM, PMA), documentation required, payment terms and shipping requests. Based on those parameters, algorithms look at the distance and fastest solutions, then AOGsmart displays a group of suppliers that have the available parts by vendor and price-and can deliver it within the desired time. Ilouno says the platform displays suppliers who have the greatest propensity to deliver the part or tooling in the critical time. "It's not just about finding the part-it's about delivering the right part to the right person at the right time with the right documentation," he says. A timer counts down the time left to provide the part. AOGs are calculated for eight hours, critical parts for 48-hour clock and non-routines at 72 hours. http://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/aogsmart-launched-cut-time-and-cost- critical-parts-sourcing Curt Lewis