July 31, 2017 - No. 061 In This Issue ATR and TransNusa extend their Global Maintenance Agreement Egyptian prosecution order 11 maintenance workers detained over Cairo airport power cut Jamia plans aeronautics degree OEMs Expect Tension as Many Push Into Aftermarket US plane-maker Boeing will coach aviation and travel startups in Shannon Airbus Helicopters H145 Makes U.S. Law Enforcement Debut Japan Attempts First Rocket Launch to Join SpaceX Senate Appropriators Reject Air Traffic Control Privatization Anticipating upgraded spaceships, SpaceX builds final first-generation Dragon cargo craft ATR and TransNusa extend their Global Maintenance Agreement Toulouse, July 28, 2017- ATR, the world's leading turboprop manufacturer, and the Indonesian airline TransNusa announce the extension of their Global Maintenance Agreement (GMA). Signed in 2014, the initial contract covered the repair, overhaul and pooling services of Line Replaceable Units, along with Propeller services, Fuel Nozzle services and an On-Site Stock support for the domestic carrier's fleet of two ATR 72-600s. The GMA between ATR and TransNusa will now be extended for several additional years and the number of aircraft covered will increase from two to five. TransNusa is progressively introducing three additional ATRs into its fleet: two ATR 42-500s and one ATR 72-600. "We are pleased to extend our maintenance agreement with TransNusa, as it is the best proof operators can give ATR regarding the quality and economics of our after-sales activities. Customer care and support services are at the heart of our drive to remain the regional leader. TransNusa are hereby ensuring that they benefit from the highest standards of maintenance and availability" declared Tom Anderson, Senior Vice-President Programs and Customer Services of ATR. Bayu Sutanto, Managing Director of TransNusa, commented: "We are delighted to further expand our partnership with ATR. As we have decided to introduce new ATR aircraft into our fleet, we want to ensure that we benefit from the aircraft manufacturer's state-of-the- art expertise to ensure optimal daily operations." Today, one third of the total ATR fleet in operation is covered by ATR GMAs. The Indonesian market is of particular significance for ATR, as nearly 100 ATR aircraft are operated by twelve airlines in the country. Thanks to a large network of customer services centers and spare parts warehouses all over the world, ATR is able to provide its operators with 24/7 assistance through a single interface, thus simplifying the maintenance operations of their aircraft. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12355333/atr-and-transnusa-extend-their- global-maintenance-agreement Back to Top Egyptian prosecution order 11 maintenance workers detained over Cairo airport power cut Egypt's prosecutor-general Nabil Sadek on Sunday ordered 11 electricity maintenance workers be detained for 15 days in connection to a power cut at Cairo airport on Friday that disrupted flight schedules, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported. Investigations are also ongoing into a number of employees in North Cairo's Electricity Company. The power cut took place at the airport's Terminal 3 on Friday between 12:20am and 01:41am, and caused delays to international and domestic flights, as well as baggage delays. The backup generators failed to operate during the outage. Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy formed a committee to investigate the causes of the power cut. Cairo International Airport is the largest airport in the country and serves as the main hub for the national carrier, EgyptAir. http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/274499/Egypt/Politics-/Egyptian- prosecution-order--maintenance-workers-de.aspx Back to Top Jamia plans aeronautics degree New Delhi: In a first for a Central university, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) will be offering a three-year B.Sc (Aeronautics) degree in collaboration with Pawan Hans Limited (PHL), a miniratna public sector undertaking. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the academic collaboration was signed on Thursday by A.P. Siddiqui, JMI registrar, and T. Sridhar, PHL executive director (HR and administration), in the presence of JMI vice-chancellor Talat Ahmad and PHL chairman- cum-managing director B.P. Sharma, JMI pro vice-chancellor Shahid Ashraf, deans, faculty members and senior officials from the two sides. As per the MoU, both the sides have also agreed to explore the possibility of launching B.Sc (Aviation). B.Sc (Aeronautics) will be a dual degree course in which the graduation degree will be awarded by JMI and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will issue certificate in aircraft maintenance engineering. The course will be open to both male and female applicants who have cleared 12th Board exams with Science and Maths combination. Jamia Cooperative Bank Ltd will be providing educational loans to students from weaker sections of society to help them pursue the course. "The civil aviation industry is growing at a rapid pace and the course will help in meeting the requirements of trained personnel not just within the country, but globally. India has made advancements in aerospace and satellite research, but there is scope for more research in the field of aeronautics, especially given the country's topography," Prof Ahmad said. http://www.asianage.com/metros/delhi/290717/jamia-plans-aeronautics-degree.html Back to Top OEMs Expect Tension as Many Push Into Aftermarket It may be just business, but already the CEOs of major aerospace equipment makers are sending warning shots to each other as manufacturers increasingly look to capitalize on the aftermarket. Discussion over the aftermarket push dominated parts of quarterly teleconference updates this week at Boeing, United Technologies Corp. and Northrop Grumman after Boeing Global Services formally began operating this month. "We're going to move forward in a disciplined way, but in an aggressive way," Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg said during a July 26 teleconference with financial analysts and reporters. He tried to frame the approach as mostly cooperative and beneficial with other providers. "Going forward we expect that market to expand, and so while there are some places where we will logically have some competition between ourselves and our supply chain in terms of competing for certain service market segments, in large part this is about growing the market together and adding more value to our customers." A day before, UTC Chairman, President and CEO Greg Hayes deemed it all one of "fundamental strategic issues" that the aerospace industry will have to deal with in the future. "The model has always been that the OEs take big risks and invest big dollars along with the first-tier suppliers to develop all these innovative products and solutions," he said in a different teleconference. "If we're going to change that model where the OEs are going to take more of the aftermarket or demand more of the aftermarket, we're going to have to think about how we price our products to the OEs." He cited the Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan (GTF) as an example. "If you think about it, we spent $10 billion on the GTF platform just getting it to market, and ...we'll spend $1 billion a year on negative engine margin," he said. "If all of a sudden I lose that aftermarket, I don't have a business going forward." Hayes said the "big OEs" should talk more about partnerships and risk-revenue sharing agreements, and they already have started. Boeing recently released its first services market outlook, which forecast $8.5 trillion worth of demand for commercial aviation services over the next 20 years. Airlines are expected to spend $1.1 trillion alone on flight operations in that time, while total spend on aviation information technology could be $740 billion. Related to the aftermarket buildup are potential and ongoing efforts by OEMs to vertically integrate their manufacturing capabilities, rather than outsource work, so they can better capitalize on services revenue in decades to come. UTC Aerospace Systems President Dave Gitlin told Aviation Week in May his group already sees other OEMs insourcing some work. For his part, Muilenburg said Boeing was looking through about 40 different categories of support and parts where it may invest. "In some cases those will be vertical capabilities and some cases new partnerships with our suppliers; and in some cases, when we need to build an additional supply chain component, we'll make those kinds of investments," he said. "I think a good example there is the 777X landing gear as an example." However, not every major OEM sees it the same. In his own teleconference July 27, Northrop Grumman Chairman, President and CEO Wes Bush implied a more collaborative approach to the supply chain. His company appreciates the investments suppliers make alongside Northrop, he told an analyst who asked. "If we can do something more effectively, that is more affordably, with more innovation outside, that's our first choice," Bush said. "Because we do participate at the very high end of technological spectrum in the work that we do, there's just inevitably a fair amount of our effort that is internally focused and derives from the internal investments that we make and the capacity and capabilities of our extraordinary team at Northrop Grumman," he continued. "But even there, over time, we attempt to take a lot of that and place it in the hands of able suppliers that we trust to not only perform on it, but to continuing to invest in it as we go forward. So we do not have in place an overt strategy to drive more vertical integration. That's not the way we think about it." http://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/oems-expect-tension-many- push-aftermarket Back to Top US plane-maker Boeing will coach aviation and travel startups in Shannon A SHANNON-BASED ACCELERATOR programme for aviation and travel tech startups will kick off this September, with plane-maker Boeing on board to coach fledgling entrepreneurs. The programme, dubbed 'the Propeller Shannon', was announced last month at the Paris Air Show. However it has since been revealed that 10 slots on the programme will be available for startups in the aviation, aerospace and travel tech sectors. Both Irish and overseas companies are invited to participate in the three-month initiative, which will be based at a hub in the Shannon Free Zone business park next to Shannon Airport. The project is being funded by Enterprise Ireland, Boeing and travel-tech firm Datalex. A spokeswoman for the state agency declined to disclose how much is being put into the programme. Mentorship As well as financially backing he project, aerospace giant Boeing - one half of the duopoly that dominates the world's passenger aircraft manufacturing industry - will mentor participants under the guise of its investment vehicle HorizonX. Datalex - the Dublin company that provides technology for airlines to sell airfares, in-flight meals and other add-ons - will also provide mentorship to companies that take part in the 'Propeller' programme. Shannon Group's International Aviation Services Centre - a hub for more than 60 aviation firms - and DCU Ryan Academy are also involved in the project. Commenting on the rollout of the accelerator today, Shannon Group chief executive Matthew Thomas reflected on the region's history in the aviation sector. He noted how Shannon was home to the first duty-free in the world and Guinness Peat Aviation, or GPA, the Tony Ryan-founded aircraft lessor that "pioneered the aircraft leasing industry". http://www.thejournal.ie/shannon-accelerator-boeing-3-3519116-Jul2017/ Back to Top Airbus Helicopters H145 Makes U.S. Law Enforcement Debut Grand Prairie, Texas 27 July, 2017 - The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) will soon become the first law enforcement agency in the United States to operate the versatile twin-engine Airbus Helicopters H145. The department's Air Support unit will use the new H145 primarily for high-altitude rescues in mountainous regions of Nevada. LVMPD performs about 170 such rescues each year. "We fly in some extremely harsh conditions, and we need a helicopter that excels in a grueling hot and high density altitude environment," LVMPD Chief Pilot Steve Morris Jr. said. "The H145 checks all of the boxes for us." To select the H145, LVMPD conducted an in-depth review of all helicopters that met its mission and cost requirements. Airbus Helicopters Inc. then provided an on-site, three- day demonstration of the aircraft during peak summer heat at or near max gross weight. Morris said the aircraft met or exceeded all expectations. In addition to high-altitude rescues, LVMPD will also use the helicopter to transport specialized officers to scenes in the Las Vegas valley and unincorporated areas of the county as needed. The H145 is equipped with the Wescam MX-10 camera system, Churchill ARS mapping system, SX-16 night sun and MacroBlue monitor for specialized police and rescue missions. This is LVMPD's first Airbus aircraft, which Morris said is expected to go into service after pilots and search-and-rescue officers complete transition training. "We're proud supporters of the U.S. law enforcement community delivering 61 percent of parapublic helicopters to the U.S. market since 2007. LVMPD is at the forefront of the community with its decision to select the H145," said Treg Manning, Vice President of Airbus Helicopters Inc. The Airbus Helicopters H145 leads the light twin-engine helicopter market, incorporating an innovative Helionix avionics suite (also found on the H135, H160 and H175) and 4-axis autopilot. The aircraft's combination of speed and performance, along with the Fenestron tail rotor, large cabin and rear-loading clamshell doors, makes it an appealing choice for law enforcement customers. About Airbus in the U.S. Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. Airbus contributes nearly $17 billion to the U.S. economy annually and supports more than 264,000 American jobs through its network of suppliers. In addition to corporate offices, engineering centers, training facilities, MROs and spare parts distribution centers, Airbus has manufacturing facilities producing commercial aircraft, helicopters and satellites throughout the U.S. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12355235/airbus-helicopters-h145-makes- us-law-enforcement-debut Back to Top Japan Attempts First Rocket Launch to Join SpaceX Japan's first privately-funded rocket took off on Sunday from a small platform on the northern island of Hokkaido, as a group of entrepreneurs attempted to join an elite club of enterprises that have commercialized space. The 10-meter tall rocket, made by Interstellar Technologies Inc., failed to reach its target altitude of 100 kilometers and splashed into the ocean on Sunday, but its backers said they would try again. The startup, founded by former Japanese internet maverick Takafumi Horie, designed and built the rocket, called Momo. "The rocket got liftoff and flew, but unfortunately didn't make it to space," Horie said on his Facebook page. "But we were able to get valuable data and we'll succeed next time." Momo's backers, including a crowdfunding initiative that began a year ago, are aiming to make space more accessible through cheaper rockets, spurring more research and experimentation. Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has pioneered such endeavors, sending payloads from NASA and private companies into orbit with its Falcon rockets. Up until now, Japan's space efforts have been led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA. It reached an altitude of about 20 kilometers before the team on the ground lost contact, shutting down the engine 66 seconds into its flight. The launch had already been postponed from Saturday due to foggy weather and technical difficulties. Japanese media and spectators armed with Interstellar stickers and merchandise had gathered on a hill nearby Taiki Aerospace Research Field to watch the launch. Interstellar used widely available parts and its own technologies to drive down the cost of the launch to less than 50 million yen ($441,000). By comparison, JAXA's solid-rocket launches cost 200 million to 300 million yen. While Momo's engines and capabilities aren't as sophisticated as government or corporate-funded rockets, its backers are betting that its simplicity and low cost could make it a useful platform for aerospace experiments. Interstellar started working on rockets a decade ago, and in the aftermath of Sunday's launch is setting its sights on a new goal: developing a rocket that can carry a small satellite by 2020. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-31/japan-attempts-first-rocket- launch-to-join-spacex Back to Top Senate Appropriators Reject Air Traffic Control Privatization Washington, DC, July 27, 2017 - Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2018 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development funding bill, providing the Federal Aviation Administration with $16.97 billion in total budgetary resources for the fiscal year beginning on October 1st. The legislation rejects the Trump Administration's proposal to privatize the nation's air traffic control system and provides $1.1 billion for FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), and additional resources to fund airport improvements. The legislation also includes provisions sought by NATA on behalf of the aviation business community. The following is a statement by NATA President Martin Hiller: "NATA commends Senate Appropriators for rejecting the Trump Administration's proposal to privatize the nation's air traffic control system. The Committee-approved legislation continues to demonstrate the lack of necessity for ATC privatization, giving the FAA nearly $900 million more than the Trump Administration requested, including over a billion dollars to support the FAA's ongoing NextGen modernization program." "We also thank the Committee for its inclusion of Senator Jerry Moran's (R-KS) amendments on behalf of aviation business to enhance Part 135 safety and regulatory consistency. The amendments direct the FAA to determine and collect additional data points to better assess safety trends and identify areas for potential improvement within the on-demand air charter community; and complete work on the top recommendation of the agency's Regulatory Consistency ARC, an electronic guidance library that eliminates outdated or conflicting policies. NATA and the entire aviation business community is deeply indebted to Senator Moran for his continued support, including his unwavering opposition to ATC privatization," Hiller continued. "NATA is also appreciative of Chairmen Cochran (R-MS) and Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Members Leahy (D-VT) and Reed (D-RI) for their ongoing commitment to general aviation. The additional resources the Committee provided the FAA will keep air traffic control modernization on schedule and offer airports the first funding increase for infrastructure in seven years. This is a solid, comprehensive piece of legislation benefiting the entire aviation community, and we look forward to its speedy consideration by the full Senate," Hiller concluded. The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) has been the voice of aviation business for over 75 years. Representing nearly 2,300 aviation businesses, NATA's member companies provide a broad range of services to general aviation, the airlines and the military and NATA serves as the public policy group representing the interests of aviation businesses before Congress and the federal agencies. For more information about NATA, please visit www.nata.aero, www.twitter.com/nataaero or www.facebook.com http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12355157/senate-appropriators-reject-air- traffic-control-privatization Back to Top Anticipating upgraded spaceships, SpaceX builds final first-generation Dragon cargo craft The Dragon supply ship set for liftoff from Florida next month was the last of SpaceX's first-generation cargo capsules off the production line, meaning future logistics deliveries to the International Space Station will fly on recycled spacecraft until a new Dragon variant is ready. SpaceX launched a reused Dragon cargo craft on its last commercial supply shipment to the space station in June, and officials said then that the next Dragon mission - now scheduled for launch next month - will use a newly-manufactured capsule. Plans for subsequent resupply missions were still under review, NASA and SpaceX officials said at the time. But a presentation to the NASA Advisory Council's human exploration and operations committee Monday by Sam Scimemi, director of the space station program at NASA Headquarters, suggested SpaceX's next Dragon spacecraft would be the last one to be built. SpaceX clarified Friday that the company expects the upcoming automated logistics mission will be the last to fly with a newly-manufactured "Dragon 1" spacecraft. SpaceX has a contract with NASA for 20 commercial resupply launches through 2019, followed by at least six more Dragon cargo missions through 2024 under a separate follow-on agreement. NASA has also contracted with Orbital ATK and Sierra Nevada Corp. for the station's cargo needs. Another iteration of the Dragon spaceship, with a different shape and other significant changes, is under development at SpaceX. NASA confirmed last week that the first unpiloted orbital demonstration flight of the Dragon 2, also known as the Crew Dragon in its human-rated configuration, would slip from late 2017 until at least February 2018. A second test flight scheduled for June 2018 will carry two astronauts to the space station and back to Earth. NASA and SpaceX intend to have the Crew Dragon ready and certified for regular crew rotations to and from the orbiting research complex by the end of next year. Meanwhile, a simpler version of the Dragon 2 capsule will also take over SpaceX's cargo delivery duties. Officials have not identified when the resupply runs will switch to the new spacecraft type, but the changeover could happen when SpaceX begins flying missions under its second cargo contract in late 2019 or early 2020, or sooner. SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk said July 19 that there was little difference between the cost of a new Dragon capsule and the cost to refurbish the Dragon that launched to the space station June 3 and returned to Earth a month later. "The SpaceX internal accounting said that it cost us almost as much as building a Dragon 1 from scratch, but I expect our internal accounting wasn't counting certain things," Musk said at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington. The Dragon that flew the last mission to the space station spent 34 days in orbit in 2014. Engineers replaced the ship's heat shield and batteries, which were vulnerable to salt water damage when it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. But the hull, thrusters, harnessing, propellant tanks, and some avionics boxes were original, officials said. "This had a lot of rework," Musk said. "The next one, we think there's a decent shot of maybe being 50 percent of the cost of a new one." SpaceX hopes to launch the its next supply ship on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as Aug. 13 or 14, ahead of an Aug. 17 spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts that will release several small satellites from the space station. The deployments will prevent the Dragon cargo craft from approaching the space station for several days as a safety precaution until station managers have good tracking of the Russian satellites. Technicians at Cape Canaveral will load more than 7,000 pounds (about 3,300 kilograms) of hardware, crew provisions and experiments into the Dragon spacecraft in the coming weeks, including a NASA-funded instrument to investigate the origins of cosmic rays. If the SpaceX launch is not off the ground by the middle of August, it could be grounded several days until officials ensure the Russian satellites are well away from the station. Two other launches from Cape Canaveral in the second half of August - an Atlas 5 flight set for around Aug. 20 and a Minotaur 4 rocket mission Aug. 25 - could complicate SpaceX's scheduling in the event of a delay. The mid-August launch will be the 12th time SpaceX has sent equipment and experiments to the space station since regular Dragon resupply flights began in October 2012. Counting two Dragon test flights in December 2010 and May 2012, the reused capsule that launched twice, and next month's mission, SpaceX built 13 capsules based on the first-generation Dragon design. After the upcoming cargo flight, SpaceX's next Dragon mission is scheduled for launch in November with a previously-flown capsule. SpaceX will continue building unpressurized trunk modules for space station deliveries. Those sections, which hold solar panels and carry large external experiment payloads, are disposed at the end of each Dragon mission to burn up in the atmosphere. Musk confirmed SpaceX will eventually use the Dragon 2 spacecraft for all crew and cargo missions to the space station. "The only thing cargo Dragon won't have is the launch escape system," Musk said, noting that the capsule will still be able to separate from a failing rocket. "I think, most likely, even cargo Dragon 2 will be able to survive a booster anomaly. It will have everything the crew Dragon 2 has, except the (abort) thrusters, but I think, in most cases actually, it will be able to survive re-entry and keep the cargo safe. "Dragon 2 being used for both cargo and crew allows us to iterate with just a little more risk on the cargo version and prove it out before there's crew on-board," Musk said. The SpaceX founder said the next-generation Dragon will not have the capability for propulsive returns to land as originally intended, instead returning to splashdowns at sea. https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/07/29/anticipating-upgraded-spaceships-spacex-builds- final-first-generation-dragon-cargo-craft/ Curt Lewis