July 26, 2018 - No. 059 In This Issue BOEING FORECASTS 'UNPRECEDENTED' PILOT DEMAND HUD gives $2.5 million loan to help with infrastructure for Duncan Aviation Fairmont State and WVU Tech partner to benefit aviation students Aviation Accreditation Board International Representatives Visit Prescott Campus Sabena technics to Add a New Maintenance Hangar in Bordeaux General aviation industry left stunned by political backflip Using FAA Bill to Help Maintenance Workforce Siemens secures large service contract for the two major Dubai airports Jetaire Receives Patent for Invicta Reticulated Foam Technology System Foxcom Debuts New Solution for Indoor Satellite Testing NASA Remakes the Airplane Wing With Electric Propulsion and a Whole Lot of Propellers BOEING FORECASTS 'UNPRECEDENTED' PILOT DEMAND "In the U.S. alone, there are over 80,000 pilots who will retire within the next 20 years," said William Ampofo, vice president for Boeing Global Services, who released the Boeing jobs forecast during the first day of EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, July 23. He anticipated a doubling of the commercial aircraft fleet in the next two decades, helping drive demand for aviation careers. The industry expects to fill a total demand for 790,000 pilots over the next 20 years, which includes 635,000 commercial pilots, 96,000 business pilots, and 59,000 helicopter pilots, the report noted. Data from business aviation and civil helicopter sectors were added to the projections for the first time, Ampofo said, "because everyone is pulling on the same resources-whether it's pilots, technicians, or crew." Boeing's research indicated that while demand for commercial pilots was "holding nearly steady," maintenance technician demand decreased to 622,000 from 648,000-due to longer maintenance intervals for new aircraft-while cabin crew demand increased to 858,000, up about 19,000. Despite the slight decrease, Ampofo said Boeing was "doubling down" on its investments in the pilot, maintenance, and cabin crew community "to support our aircraft"and he emphasized that he was "very excited" about the health of the industry. "Business and general aviation are a focus for us," he noted. "We're here at Oshkosh for the general aviation enthusiast because we feel it's our job to play a significant role in the training, tracking, and encouragement of the next generation of aviators. We're really excited about what we're able to do, and we're really pleased with this. When you get into the classroom environment and when students see something cool, they gravitate toward it," he continued. "We feel we're in a cool industry. There's a way for us to bring this cool technology and make it real for the young people across the United States." Carl Davis, the manufacturer's chief pilot and director of air crew operations, said the industry needed to remain nimble and proactive as other opportunities open up for young people. He described the "poaching" of young people who are steered away from aviation jobs and into other careers. "We lose people to Walt Disney World, technology firms, and car manufacturers-and we're going to have to look at scheduling and lifestyle as well. Aviation is a 24-hour business and that will drive some people away-but it also attracts other people." Davis said some of the shifts in aviation jobs are causing micro-shortages elsewherewithin the aviation industry. "We have to cast a broader net" to spur interest in high schools and other institutions "to develop the pipeline and training for the need that we have," Ampofo noted. He said many career aviators began their careers in GA and built experience along the way. The Seattle-based aircraft manufacturer analyzes a combination of data sources to predict the future of aviation jobs. Ampofo explained that the pilot and technician outlook (PTO) represented "the global demand forecast for pilots, technicians, and cabin crew and it's based on the future fleet growth projections over the next 20 years." He said Boeing tabulates the current market outlook and marries it with the demand for aircraft. "Based on the fleet growth, the detailed aircraft utilization, attrition rate, and regional differences specific to certain aircraft types-the PTO estimates the number of pilots, crew, and technicians worldwide." Ampofo said the formula was "a little bit of art" mixed with science, "but it certainly is reared in fact-based data and some projective analytics that we've mastered over the years." The jet-maker is a global player and an economic engine for the Seattle and Everett, Washington, area. When asked what would happen in the event of a tariff between the United States, China, or other countries that supply or buy from Boeing, Ampofo said he company was "keeping a watch on that" and he didn't expect to see an impact in the short term. "But for deliveries it certainly can do so," if the cost of raw materials drives up the price of an aircraft. He noted that Boeing has advocacy efforts underway "on the Hill to make sure our business interests" are addressed. Ampofo was upbeat about the overall jobs forecast and said he was "really excited about the growth [of aviation]" especially as more young people investigate science, technology, engineering, and math pathways. "Most of our challenge is trying to keep pace with the growth that we have, and that's a good thing." https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2018/july/24/boeing-forecasts-unprecedented-pilot-demand Back to Top HUD gives $2.5 million loan to help with infrastructure for Duncan Aviation The expansion of Duncan Aviation at the Provo Municipal Airport will be completed in spring or early summer of 2019, thanks to a $2.5 million guaranteed loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The loan means Provo can now begin the needed infrastructure improvements and Duncan Aviation can expand. Duncan Aviation, according to Steve Gleason, manager of the Provo Airport, has been a 10-year project. When Duncan Aviation is completed next year, it will have a campus of 220,000 square feet that includes two large hangars and two smaller hangars to paint planes. It will employ up to 500 people. According to the HUD press release, "Duncan Aviation is one of the world's largest privately-owned, full-service maintenance providers for corporate- and private-jet aircraft. Duncan has facilities throughout the United States and has selected Provo Municipal Airport for its western hub expansion. Duncan plans to invest approximately $80 million to construct and outfit hangars as well as install paint booths, which are used for applying specialized coatings to aircraft components." According to a report released by HUD, the loan funds will be used to install water, sewer and stormwater lines. The project will include a half mile of road construction, a stormwater system, two gravity mains, a sewer lift station and force main, 150 feet of sewer main and over a mile of 12-inch water line loop. These improvements will serve the property that Duncan Aviation occupies and another 50 acres adjacent to the airport, which currently lack water and sewer services. "The Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program is one of the most important public investment tools that HUD offers to state and local governments to create transformative impact in their communities," said HUD Rocky Mountain Deputy Regional Administrator Eric Cobb, "This investment will bring jobs, infrastructure improvements, and economic growth that will benefit the community of Provo for years to come." HUD noted the average wage for employees is expected to be between $28 and $30 an hour. Duncan has provided a detailed list of positions to be filled, and the city is finalizing a written agreement with Duncan concerning job creation and reporting requirements. Duncan Aviation opened its doors in 2010 in Provo. Building on nearly 45 acres of land at the Provo Municipal Airport, Duncan Aviation will add nearly 275,000 square feet of buildings with a 222,000-square-foot maintenance and modifications center and a 53,000-square-foot paint facility. If this portion of the buildout is successful, Gleason said there are plans to increase to 400,000 square feet and four hangars that would employ up to 700 people. "it's just a job creator and it's big," Gleason said. Gleason noted that with the infrastructure being planned, that will also help with a portion of the future development of the west side of Provo. "Certain aspects will help with an overall plan to provide services to the west side," said Dixon Holmes, Provo's economic development director. Holmes said the HUD loan is one of several financial tools helping to complete Duncan Aviation. The expansion is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/central/provo/hud-gives-million-loan-to-help-with-infrastructure-for-duncan/article_d73f58d3-9c20-5baa-9fcf-e4c4538e94de.html Back to Top Fairmont State and WVU Tech partner to benefit aviation students FAIRMONT - An agreement between Fairmont State University and West Virginia University Institute of Technology allows aviation students the ability to take classes from either program in order to complete their degree. Fairmont State Provost Dr. Richard Harvey said this is the first step in creating a college-based flight instruction aviation center at the facility in Bridgeport. While they are hoping to establish additional collaborations, this is a great starting point. "We're really excited to be able to support West Virginia University Institute of Technology flight students for the flight portion of the program," he said. "What we hope to take advantage of most of their curriculum is online, so some of our students can take advantage of online course offerings. It's a win-win. It's a nice marriage of programs." "This means a tremendous amount for our institution, and it's an opportunity for us to have resources available to us that we don't currently have, as well as providing resources to Fairmont State that they don't necessarily have," said Dr. Joan Neff, WVU Tech provost. The agreement offers new opportunities to students on both campuses, Neff said, which will allow them to build a skill set that doubles what they might have had otherwise. "It's a good example of how when we partner together and collaborate we can have something more than when we're each trying to develop different programs on our own," she said. "I think that's great." Fairmont State University offers a Bachelor of Science in aviation technology with three speciality areas including aviation administration professional flight option, aviation administration management option and aviation maintenance management option. The university also offers an associate of applied science degree in aviation maintenance technology. Graduates who complete this degree meet all the prerequisites for taking the Federal Aviation Administration's Airframe and Powerplant Certification exams. Aviation courses are taught on site in Bridgeport. The center is FAA approved to administer all A&P certification exams on site. More information about the Aviation Technology programs through Fairmont State, visit www.fairmontstate.edu/collegeofscitech/academics/aviation-technology-program. https://www.wvnews.com/fairmontnews/news/fairmont-state-and-wvu-tech-partner-to-benefit-aviation-students/article_6d6f6a0c-ac70-5575-b830-93b4f636c83d.html Back to Top Aviation Accreditation Board International Representatives Visit Prescott Campus PRESCOTT, Ariz. - Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI) attendees from around the world recently gathered at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Prescott Campus to discuss, simulate, analyze and problem-solve at AABI's annual meeting. AABI is a specialized and professional accrediting organization comprised of representatives from all segments of the aviation field. Their mission is to advance quality aviation education worldwide through accreditation and leadership. AABI accredits aviation degree programs at the associate, baccalaureate and graduate levels in several non-engineering professional fields, including aviation management, flight education, air traffic control, aviation maintenance, aviation electronics, aviation safety science, aviation studies and unmanned aircraft systems. The five-day event brought together 125 leaders from industry and higher education with the goal of enhancing aviation education and training worldwide through a variety of interactive events. The "Simulated Accreditation Visit" featured a mock-evaluation of Embry-Riddle's Aeronautical Science Program, with AABI team members examining facilities and meeting with students, advisors, faculty, flight staff, industry advisory board (IAB) members and administrators. The "Industry/Educator Forum," a 24-year AABI tradition and cited as a 'best practice' by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), was an opportunity for industry and educators to exchange ideas and discuss topics of mutual interest, including the worldwide pilot shortage that has ultimately led to a flight instructor shortage- as well as the profession of aircraft dispatching and the looming shortage of dispatchers within the airlines as well as other segments within the industry. "We discussed an AABI-proposed initiative that has become known as an 'Instructor Lease Back Program' where newly hired or commissioned pilots would return to their universities to serve as check-, multi-engine or CFI-candidate instructors," said Dr. Juan Merkt, Chair of Embry-Riddle's Aeronautical Science Department in Prescott and AABI Board of Trustees Member. "It was nice to see airlines and military representatives seated at the same table with universities, working together to find solutions for enhancing the pilot pipeline." A report summarizing recommendations from Forum participants will be posted later on the AABI website. Embry-Riddle was one of the first four universities to apply for AABI accreditation in 1991, receiving the first program accreditations in 1992. Currently, the University has a total of 16 degree programs accredited by AABI. Specialized accreditation has three fundamental goals: To ensure the quality of an accredited program, to assist in the improvement of the program, and to maintain the relevance of education within the industry it serves. "Students, educators and industry professionals can become involved in helping AABI meet the above goals," added Merkt. "Thus, everyone can make a difference in this important effort to ensure that tomorrow's aviation professionals are the best and brightest-and that they are prepared to meet the professional challenges facing them." AABI membership includes leaders from major and regional airlines, aircraft manufacturers, aviation service providers, aviation trade associations, as well as aviation educators from colleges and universities in the USA, Canada, China, Greece, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Puerto Rico and Turkey. To learn more about AABI, visit: http://www.aabi.aero/ https://news.erau.edu/news-briefs/aviation-accreditation-board-international-representatives-visit-prescott-campus/ Back to Top Sabena technics to Add a New Maintenance Hangar in Bordeaux Anticipating the increase of long range wide-body aircraft in Europe and the need to get more capacity to support its civil & military customers, Sabena technics decided to invest in a new hangar in its facility at Bordeaux-Mérignac airport (France). This 10 000 sqm hangar will thus be able to accommodate, in maintenance or modifications activities, a long-range wide-body aircraft up to A350-1000/B777-9X or up to three military transport aircrafts such as A400M simultaneously. This new asset will bring more flexibility as Sabena technics is offering long term agreements to its customers in order to secure slots and guarantee availability of resources in advance. "It is essential for us to collaborate closely with operators, both to understand their needs and plan ahead in order to deploy our manpower and resources accordingly. We are extremely excited to be able to support more aircraft and offer additional capacity to our customers." said Philippe Rochet, Group's Chief Operating Officer. "This new facility will strengthen our position as a leading independent European MRO, with the highest levels of performance and quality." With the construction work starting this summer, this new hangar will be operational by January 2020. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12421815/sabena-technics-to-add-a-new-maintenance-hangar-in-bordeaux Back to Top General aviation industry left stunned by political backflip Entrepreneur Dick Smith says he is "flabbergasted" that Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has killed off a plan - endorsed by Barnaby Joyce in his final days in cabinet - to rewrite the law to address the escalating costs crippling the general aviation industry. Mr Smith, a former chairman of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, said last night Mr Joyce was the only Coalition transport minister in the past 20 years to agree to reforms that would cut the regulatory burden on the industry without putting lives at risk. He accused the others - John Anderson, Mark Vaile, Warren Truss, Darren Chester and now Mr McCormack - of being hostage to CASA and other bureaucrats who had introduced "gold-plated" regulations with no consideration for the industry's crippling costs. "The bureaucrats will all be laughing and saying 'we've won again'," he said. "Now they will be able to continue writing more and more expensive rules." Airline Owners and Pilots Association executive director Ben Morgan said Mr McCormack's refusal to back reform could send many smaller operators to the wall. "We've got a pilot crisis and our flight schools are closing, and we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg right now," he said. "This is being driven by the fact that the general aviation industry is completely on its knees." The industry's reform plan would have greatly benefited Panorama Airways, run by Tammy Augostin and her fiance Charlie at Bathurst in the NSW central west. The pair also manage an aircraft maintenance business, and run Fastjet Adventure Flights in their L-39 Albatros jet and are looking to open a pilot training school, but the road, they say, has not been easy. "We've just laid off two people - two full-time employees," Ms Augostin, 46, said. "You have to wonder if there's a future for us." With their local council recently quadrupling their rent, soaring landing fees and increasingly burdensome regulation said by CASA to be aimed at improving safety, Ms Augostin said the industry was struggling to remain viable. She said in the past decade general aviation operators had been forced to comply with more and more rigorous inspections for whole aircraft and individual parts. Some models, she said, were made to undergo structural inspection programs unique to Australia. "They can end up costing thousands," she said. "SIDs - supplemental inspection documents - are inspections done on the aircraft under the manufacturer's directions. A lot have been grounded because they haven't undertaken these inspections. In some of (the inspections), you are pulling aircraft completely apart. There's just as much damage done in that. "Our regulator seems to have a lot to say about safety, I don't believe it's relevant in some things. Obviously its important in what we do, but it limits the way we run our businesses. "We're such a big country, it's a shame to see this happening to an industry that used to be really vibrant." In February, Mr Joyce struck a breakthrough deal with his Labor counterpart, Anthony Albanese, to remove a key part of the Civil Aviation Act that requires CASA to "regard safety as the most important consideration" in regulating the industry. Under the changes backed by the industry, CASA would instead be required to balance the "highest level of safety in air navigation" with the need for "an efficient and sustainable Australian aviation industry". But Mr Joyce resigned later that month in the aftermath of his affair with staffer Vikki Campion, handing over the transport portfolio to Mr McCormack. A landmark aviation summit in Wagga Wagga this month backed the changes and called on them to be legislated before the next federal election. Mr Smith said the planned rewrite of the act would have revitalised the general aviation and Australian flight training industry because for the first time it would have obliged bureaucrats to take cost into account in regulating the sector. Mr Joyce avoided criticism of Mr McCormack's decision not to proceed. "I am not going to presume to know the reasons for other people's decisions," he said. "You should always search for a bipartisan position because that allows you, in contentious area such as air safety, to find the space to start talking," he said. "I am sure Michael will talk closely with the general aviation sector and also with Anthony Albanese so they can find common ground to address some of the regulatory burden." Of Mr Smith, he said: "He is a little bit eccentric, so am I probably, but don't ever confuse that with stupidity." Mr McCormack said in a statement that any proposal to change the legislation governing CASA required him to "consult with other stakeholders before making any decision". "I am aware and fully committed to working and consulting closely with industry on future changes to aviation safety regulations and any potential changes to the Act in future,'' he said. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/general-aviation-industry-left-stunned-by-political-backflip/news-story/97421dfc0cf8eab5604f5a8b8ea1e9b9 Back to Top Using FAA Bill to Help Maintenance Workforce In a letter to leaders of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, 29 organizations urged that legislation to create a new aviation maintenance workforce development program be included the Senate's FAA reauthorization package. The workforce bill, S. 2506, was introduced in March by a bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). It would create a new grant program administered by the FAA to attract and train the next generation of aviation technical workers. Twenty-one senators have cosponsored S. 2506. A parallel House bill (H.R. 5701) introduced by Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), has 16 cosponsors. The July 20 letter was coordinated by ARSA and signed by 28 allied organizations representing maintainers, airlines, manufacturers, business and general aviation, schools, labor and communities with significant aviation sectors. According to responses to the association's 2018 member survey, difficulty finding technical talent is one of the biggest strategic threats facing the maintenance industry. FAA legislation is expected on the Senate floor in the coming weeks and ARSA and its allies are mounting a full court press to get S. 2506 into the bill. Get Involved - Tell Your Elected Officials to Support the Aviation Maintenance Workforce Grant Program http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12421989/using-faa-bill-to-help-maintenance-workforce Back to Top Siemens secures large service contract for the two major Dubai airports July 25, 2018: Siemens Postal, Parcel & Airport Logistics (SPPAL) has inked six years service contract for the baggage and material handling systems at the two international airports in Dubai. The operation and maintenance contract is based on key performance indicators (KPIs) defined together with airport operator Dubai Airports. The contract can be further renewed. Its local presence in the Middle East makes SPPAL the ideal partner for the service project. At Dubai International, the service contract just signed covers the baggage handling systems at Terminals 1, 2 and 3 as well as the material handling system at the Dubai Flower Center. In addition, Siemens will operate and maintain the recently extended baggage handling system at the new DWC. The offering includes end to end baggage handling system operation, all aspects of troubleshooting, a continuous improvement process, and predictive and preventive maintenance. Siemens will also provide extensive spare parts management. "More and more airports are switching from traditional service methods to more modern models," said Michael Reichle, CEO of SPPAL. "We support customers by providing condition-based and predictive maintenance, for example, or - as is the case in Dubai - by providing KPI-based solutions and innovative digital analytics applications. By doing so, further improvement in system availability as well as cost and resource efficiency is achieved." "As a long-standing and reliable service partner, Siemens helps us constantly improve operational processes and system reliability, delivering high service levels for the 90 million customers we serve annually at our airports," said Omar Binadai, senior vice president, Engineering Services at Dubai Airports. Locally, Siemens has an experienced service team who is familiar with the installed technology and promptly provides resources for all issues. The Siemens employees and the airport staff work closely together at various levels, forming a joint operation and maintenance team. https://www.stattimes.com/siemens-secures-large-service-contract-for-the-two-major-dubai-airports-aviation Back to Top Jetaire Receives Patent for Invicta Reticulated Foam Technology System July 24, 2018, Atlanta, GA.....Jetaire is pleased to announce that it has received a patent for its Invicta™ Reticulated Foam Ignition Mitigation technology from the U.S. Patent Office (U.S. Patent No. 9,849,998). The system is a center tank flammable solution, currently FAA-certified for the B737, 737NG, B757 and B767 aircraft as well as the Airbus A320 family of aircraft. The Invicta technology offers a number of benefits that address FAA compliance demands. In addition, installation of the Invicta system is much faster and simpler than other products offered in the market, thus minimizing disruption of customers' schedules. "We are the original developers of foam technology for use as a means of compliance to FAR 25.981, and are the patent holder for the Invicta Reticulated Foam Technology," said Mike Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Jetaire. "We understand the ins-and-outs of the technology and how it works. There is no other company in the industry with our scope and depth of knowledge about this technology." Jetaire's kit and installation costs are cost effective and affordable, and installation requires less aircraft maintenance downtime than other solutions on the market. Once installed, the Invicta system is essentially maintenance-free and completely passive. Aircraft can be returned to operation in a timely fashion after the installation process. "Our number one priority is safety," added Williams. "Our goal is to provide our customers with a quality product that addresses the FAA's requirements outlined in the 14 CFR 25.981 and 121.1117 compliance regulations. In addition the system is easy to install and is competitively priced." Jetaire, established in 1984, is a full-service avionics and aircraft engineering firm providing high-quality solutions to clients in the aviation and aerospace industries. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Jetaire is a total system integrator and is an FAA Design Approval Holder (DAH) and has Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) capability to design, fabricate and certify modification kits. Jetaire's engineers are experts in STC-certified and FAA-approved advanced interface systems and average more than 25 years of experience in providing solutions for the complex demands of aviation. Jetaire is a global organization with dedicated employees located in four offices worldwide. Over 150 value-added technical and engineering solutions and services are provided to customers in 53 countries. For more information, please visit www.jetairegroup.com. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12421820/jetaire-receives-patent-for-invictatm-reticulated-foam-technology-system Back to Top Foxcom Debuts New Solution for Indoor Satellite Testing Aircraft satellite signal testing will now be possible 24/7, regardless of weather, thanks to Foxcom's new Hangar Repeater Solution. The solution, which provides communication inside buildings or underground without needing a direct line of sight to the sky, enables aircraft ground engineers to perform avionics testing of Inmarsat, Iridium and GPS satellite signals without moving aircraft in and out of a hangar. According to Foxcom, the new testing solution will provide a rapid return on investment by reducing AOG time and costs for overall maintenance, fuel (since aircraft no longer need to be moved for testing) and heating and cooling (since hangar doors can be kept closed). The Hangar Repeater Solution consists of passive outdoor antennas connected to indoor antennas via cable or fiber. The solution allows multiple types of satellite signals to be distributed and re-transmitted throughout the hangar or any underground facility to multiple locations. According to a spokesperson for Foxcom, the solution uses proven direct modulation RF over fiber (RFOF) techniques and high-quality radio frequency (RF) components to repeat signals. Foxcom says the Hangar Repeater Solution is the latest in a highly successful range of repeaters launched by the company in 2013. A spokesperson says the newest version offers better RF performances and more flexibility than previous versions, which makes it suitable for more installation scenarios. According to Foxcom, installation takes approximately one day and entails mounting an outdoor unit and connecting it to the antennas. A cable from the outdoor unit connects inside the hangar to a transmitting antenna. The company adds that an existing Foxcom repeater can easily be upgraded to add Inmarsat compatibility. Work on Inmarsat support started two months ago and Foxcom says it took one month to complete. According to the company, the repeater solution development is an ongoing project and Foxcom is constantly exploring and implementing changes to provide better results. The new Hangar Repeater Solution is on sale now and Foxcom says interested buyers will need to contact the company for pricing information. https://www.mro-network.com/test-equipment/foxcom-debuts-new-solution-indoor-satellite-testing Back to Top NASA Remakes the Airplane Wing With Electric Propulsion and a Whole Lot of Propellers I remember distinctly the cool December day in 2013 at my company's headquarters in the Santa Cruz mountains when we met with researchers from NASA to plan tests for a novel propeller configuration for electric aircraft. Somehow, our Joby Aviation team, the NASA researchers, and colleagues from another small California business brainstormed our way into a much more ambitious program than any of us had expected when the meeting began. Instead of building and testing a scale model, we decided to construct a full-scale wing-one large enough to lift a four-passenger aircraft. And it would have not two or four, but a dozen or more separate motors and propellers arrayed along the leading edge. We could have tested a smaller wing by mounting it on a pickup truck. A full-scale wing would require something a lot more elaborate. And the project would need to be completed in less than a year, on a budget small enough to make most companies turn tail. But we were committed. Our novel configuration was based on an old concept: The idea-known as a "blown wing"-was to propel air at high speed over the wing using many motors and propellers mounted along the leading edge. Usually, the speed of this airflow is about the same as the speed the aircraft is moving; that's why airplanes need to pick up speed before they can take off. But with many propellers blowing air over it at high speed, the wing behaves as though it's traveling faster than it actually is, providing greater lift. That's a key advantage, because with greater lift, you can use a smaller wing, one that would otherwise require inordinately long runways so that the plane could take off and land at high speed. The situation is different in flight, when the plane is traveling fast and only a small wing is needed to provide the requisite lift. During that phase of flight, a larger wing is a disadvantage, because drag forces act over the whole area of the wing, reducing efficiency. So what's an airplane designer to choose: a big wing or a small one? Takeoff and landing considerations usually rule the day, so aircraft end up with wings that are too large for efficient cruising. A larger wing also means that the aircraft will be tossed around more when it encounters turbulence. The blown wing provides a solution to this conundrum. During takeoff and landing, air can be blown over the wing at higher speeds, providing additional lift without sacrificing cruise performance. Although a few aircraft have been developed in the past with blown wings, the use of combustion engines for propulsion limited how far their designers could go. They had to use relatively few, large propellers, which aren't well suited to pushing air at high speed. It would be more effective to distribute a large number of small propellers across the span of the wing, but for most of aviation history, that arrangement has been impractical. The problem is that the efficiency and specific power (the ratio of power output to weight) of combustion engines plummet as they're scaled down. So using a large number of smaller engines results in a less efficient and heavier aircraft. What's more, combustion engines are complex beasts. So placing a large number of them on the wing would create a maintenance nightmare. True, a series of propellers could instead be driven by a system of driveshafts and gearboxes connected to a single engine or perhaps a small number of them. But that approach, too, would create additional maintenance concerns and force various design compromises, as the French firm Breguet Aviation discovered in the 1960s with its short-lived 941 model, which used a blown wing. What has changed the picture, of course, are recent advances in electric propulsion. Electric motors don't give up much efficiency or specific power as they're scaled down. And they're extremely simple-often having just one moving part-so they require very little maintenance. As a result, there is little disadvantage to using a large number of small electric motors, which can be placed at locations on the aircraft where a combustion engine would be impractically bulky or heavy, such as near the wingtips. Although electric motors can be driven by a combustion-powered generator, the benefits are even greater if the aircraft is battery powered. Indeed, battery-electric propulsion is about three times as efficient as a typical combustion-engine power train. It's also a lot quieter. And because electricity costs much less than aviation fuel, this two-pronged attack-adding a more efficient power train, plus a more efficient airframe due to the smaller wing-promises to slash operating costs, especially considering the reduced need for maintenance. So why aren't all aircraft battery powered? Because, of course, batteries aren't yet up to the task. Even today's best are very heavy for their energy content, which severely limits the range of electric aircraft. And they are sometimes prone to catching fire, which some commentators speculate may have been the cause of a fatal crash of an electric airplane in Hungary this past May. But battery technology will no doubt improve with time. So NASA, Joby Aviation, and many other companies are busy exploring various strategies for designing electric aircraft. And reviving the blown wing is one of them. Five years ago, engineers at NASA started to think about using a large number of electric motors to create a blown wing, later naming the project LEAPTech, for Leading Edge Asynchronous Propeller Technology. (The "Asynchronous" part of that moniker refers to the possibility that the propellers would not necessarily all be spinning at the same speed.) Joby Aviation, a startup formed in 2009 to develop personal electric aircraft, had already been collaborating with NASA. When my Joby colleagues and I learned about LEAPTech, we jumped at a chance to get involved. Rounding out the LEAPTech collaboration was Empirical Systems Aerospace (ESAero), another small business that had worked with NASA to investigate how electric propulsion can improve aircraft performance. NASA hoped to vet the idea with an actual test of a wing and propellers, in part because the relevant aerodynamic effects are very complex, and so computational fluid dynamics, or CFD, simulations of them would perhaps not be completely trustworthy. Another concern was that this distributed propulsion system might turn out to be too complicated to operate reliably in a real-world environment. The test NASA was envisioning would show whether a smaller-than-normal wing with electrically powered leading-edge propellers could produce enough lift to allow a four-passenger airplane to take off at a reasonable speed. Typically, such a test would be done in a wind tunnel. But leasing such a wind tunnel would have exceeded NASA's small budget for the project. Besides, the waiting lists for appropriately sized wind tunnels were just too long. So we decided that we would test a prototype LEAPTech wing by mounting it on a truck and driving at a high enough speed to analyze takeoff and landing performance. Such a test is not without precedent. Perhaps most famously, Scaled Composites performed a similar test of the tail of its SpaceShipOnespace plane, a method its engineers jokingly also dubbed CFD-for Creative Ford Driving. And Joby had been conducting similar testing for years, with a Ford F-150 Lightning pickup. Shortly after the fateful 2013 meeting when we decided to build and test a full-scale LEAPTech wing, we divvied up the labor. Joby would work with NASA on the design, also building the wing, motors, and propellers, and it would modify a suitable truck for testing. ESAero would do the wiring, configure the needed instrumentation, and troubleshoot the test setup. NASA's initial design sketches featured a wing with 10 leading-edge propellers for takeoff and landing, plus two separate propellers mounted on each wingtip to power the aircraft after takeoff. Putting propellers on the wingtips-where they can reduce drag by counteracting the wingtip vortices-is another old idea that would rarely be practical without electric propulsion. Combustion engines are just too large and heavy to build into a wingtip, and using driveshafts and gearboxes in a wing to turn propellers at the tips creates engineering headaches, just as it does for leading-edge propellers. After a few months analyzing the problem, we arrived at a design for a wing with a span of about 9 meters and an area of about 5 square meters. It would have a series of 18 propellers, each about a half meter in diameter, distributed along the length of the wing. Altogether, the 18 motors offered some 225 kilowatts, or 300 horsepower. Although this wing would be used only for ground tests, we designed it with a particular application in mind: an experimental aircraft based on the Tecnam P2006T four-seat twin-engine propeller aircraft. We chose the P2006T because it was a good size, because it had wing-mounted engines (meaning replacing them with electric motors would be straightforward), and because the management at Tecnam was excited about the project. The experimental aircraft we envisioned would weigh about 1,400 kilograms and take off at a speed of 61 knots (113 kilometers per hour) while cruising at 174 knots (322 km/h). Only the wingtip propellers would be used after the aircraft was up and away. And the leading-edge propellers would be needed just during takeoff and landing. We therefore designed the latter so that their blades could fold flush against their nacelles during the remainder of the flight, making them similar to the folding propellers used in some modern motor gliders. But because our testing would be limited to measuring takeoff and landing performance, the test wing would include neither the wingtip propellers nor the folding mechanism. These specifications make our design comparable to that of four-seat propeller planes, but with a much smaller wing. Indeed, our wing would be only about a third the size of those on conventional aircraft. On paper, anyway, it would still provide enough lift for normal-speed landings and takeoffs. Our charge was to prove that this surmise matched reality. For that, we purchased a Peterbilt truck-the kind of thing you might see barreling down the highway with a trailer in tow. On it we constructed supports to mount the wing high enough to minimize the aerodynamic effects of the ground below. To reduce vibration, we attached the wing to the truck using four beefy airbags. The giant winged truck looked distinctly odd, but it was exactly what this job required. After the design and construction work was complete, we began our tests on the dry lake bed at NASA's premier flight-testing facility, the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center, at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert. Tom Wolfe's 1974 book The Right Stuff and the 1983 movie of the same name made this locale famous. It's where Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in 1947, and it was the original landing site for the space shuttle. We were using carefully groomed sections of the lake bed that are maintained as backup runways for the flight test programs currently under way at Edwards. Although it would never leave the ground, we had to treat our unconventional test platform like an aircraft and take all the same precautions to minimize the chance that we'd harm the lake bed or leave behind debris that could later damage an aircraft making an emergency landing there. Once we had all the batteries and power cables secured and our instrumentation system logging data, we began our tests, which entailed driving the truck at speeds up to about 130 km/h (80 mph) with the wing canted at different angles and with the propellers set to spin at various speeds. A wind tunnel would have offered carefully controlled conditions, whereas we had to estimate our airspeed based on the ground speed of the test vehicle and the wind speed as measured by several weather stations we had placed around the dry lake. To minimize errors and variations, we began at daybreak when the winds were calmest. We also had to find days when other aircraft were not likely to need our runway for an emergency landing, which meant a lot of waiting while NASA tested its X-56Adrone and the Air Force tested the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter. After two months in the desert, we had collected enough data to fully check our computer simulations. We were happy to see the expected performance boost. Indeed, the tests indicated that our predictions for the lift force that could be generated were somewhat conservative. Our electrically blown wing indeed worked! Based on those encouraging results, NASA decided to further explore the blown-wing concept with a new experimental aircraft, one based on the same aircraft we'd investigated during the LEAPTech project, the Tecnam P2006T. It would be dubbed the X-57 Maxwell, the first piloted NASA X-Plane in more than a decade. For the X-57, we modified the design in various ways. For one, the X-57 will be using a slightly larger wing. That change would provide enough interior volume for installing the wiring. But a more significant motivation was to improve "loiter" performance: Although the energy required to travel a given distance increases with a larger wing, the energy required to stay in the air for a given amount of time actually goes down. This is important when, for example, the aircraft must circle an airport while waiting for the weather to improve to land. We also decided to reduce the number of leading-edge propellers from 18 to 12, which we felt would be a better compromise between simplicity and performance. Also, the takeoff speed was decreased slightly to 58 knots (107 km/h), which is more like that of comparable aircraft. And the two wingtip propellers, which we had designed for a "pusher" configuration, were moved from behind the wing to ahead of it, to provide additional ground clearance on landing, when the nose of the plane comes up. Construction on the X-57 Maxwell is now under way. The original Tecnam P2006T will be modified in stages. For its first flight, probably less than a year away, the two wing-mounted engines will be replaced with two electric motors, without otherwise modifying the wing. The next phase will swap out the original wing for a much smaller one, with the two electric motors moved outboard to the wingtips for greater efficiency. (After this modification, the plane will require longer runways to take off and land.) The final phase will add 12 smaller electric motors spaced along the leading edge, to allow it to take off and land on typical runways while retaining the efficiency gained with the smaller wing. Flight tests of the X-57 will help NASA engineers gauge the performance and practicality of this configuration. Those tests will also help guide designs for the next generation of distributed electric propulsion, which is soon to arrive. My Joby colleagues and I have already completed a study that examines the possibility of applying similar principles to an 11-seat airliner [PDF]. Wingtip propellers and blown wings are not the only strategies newly made practical by advances in electric propulsion. As another example, my colleagues at Joby and I are developing a five-seat electric aircraft that uses tilting propellers to take off vertically and then transition to normal airplane flight, allowing it to cruise much faster and more efficiently than a helicopter. Most of today's airplanes and helicopters look very similar to models from many decades ago, but as this work demonstrates, that's about to change. Thanks to the flexibility of electric propulsion, aviation is about to experience the greatest renaissance in design since the advent of the jet engine. So be prepared, and don't forget to fasten your seat belt. https://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/aviation/nasa-remakes-the-airplane-wing-with-electric-propulsion-and-a-whole-lot-of-propellers Curt Lewis