AUGUST 19, 2019 - No. 066 In This Issue Embraer Unveils Fixed-Wing Electric Demonstrator Pierpont receives national award for aerospace program Zombie planes technology may resurrect old F-16s in future Kansas Approved for New Type of Drone Flight by FAA Google pitches plan to restore Silicon Valley's iconic Hangar One Sustainability Series: Sustainable kerosene as aviation fuel The Full Potential of Connected Aerospace How space technology has improved the airline experience Why Militaries Are Having Trouble Recruiting Pilots SpaceX, NASA practice astronaut recovery ahead of Crew Dragon's crewed launch debut Embraer Unveils Fixed-Wing Electric Demonstrator Embraer unveiled its fixed-wing, single-engine electric demonstrator aircraft on Aug. 16, as the company seeks to play a part in the reduction of carbon emissions and to become a major force in the urban and regional mobility markets. Another Brazilian company, WEG, is building the demonstrator's electric motor and controller under a teaming agreement announced in May. First flight of the aircraft, based on the Embraer single-engine EMB-203 Ipanema crop duster, is to come next year, according to Embraer. California-based Parker Aerospace is to supply the cooling system for the demonstrator. Over the next few months, the three companies "will continue to test the systems in the labs preparing the integration in the demonstrator aircraft for testing under real operating conditions," Embraer said. "The partnership, in the context of pre-competitive research and development, seeks to accelerate the knowledge of the necessary technologies to increase the energy efficiency of an aircraft, considering the use and integration of electric motors into innovative propulsion systems," according to the company. "By establishing strategic partnerships through more agile cooperation mechanisms, Embraer is stimulating knowledge networks to allow a significant increase in Brazil's competitiveness and the construction of a sustainable future." mbraer is one of several aircraft manufacturers and technology suppliers researching and developing electric aircraft technology. As an example, in June, California aviation company Ampaire's hybrid-electric Cessna 337 Skymaster made its first test flight. Just two weeks after the test flight Personal Airline Exchange placed an order for 50 Skymasters. The largest seaplane airline in North America, Harbour Air, also plans to begin flight testing all-electric propulsion technology this year. In April, Collins Aerospace unveiled a new $50 million high-voltage lab to develop a 1-megawatt (MW) motor, motor controller and battery system for a hybrid electric demonstrator aircraft. In addition to the fixed-wing demonstrator, Embraer's urban air mobility business, Embraer-X, is developing an air taxi concept - the DreamMaker - with the goal of running on electric power. WEG has teamed with Embraer on this project as well. https://www.aviationtoday.com/2019/08/16/embraer-unveils-fixed-wing-electric-demonstrator/ Back to Top Pierpont receives national award for aerospace program BRIDGEPORT - Pierpont Community and Technical College recently received a national award from the Civil Air Patrol for its aerospace program. The school's Aviation Technology Program, located at the Robert C. Byrd National Aerospace Education Center in Bridgeport, was given the patrol's Frank G. Brewer Memorial Aerospace National Award, according to a news release. Dr. Brad Gilbert, interim director of the Aviation Technology Program, represented the college and the program's staff during the Civil Air Patrol National Conference in Baltimore. The award is given to individuals and organizations that have made contributions to the advancement of youth in aerospace activities. In addition to activities and events promoting science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, the aerospace center makes its facilities available to local aerospace companies for them to provide specialized training for specific aircraft and/or aircraft systems. For the Civil Air Patrol, the center has allowed it to hold events by providing rooms, technical equipment and instructors. The Center has also provided hangar space for maintenance of a Civil Air Patrol aircraft and is always willing to open up its facility for aircraft storage or maintenance. https://www.wvnews.com/pierpont-receives-national-award-for-aerospace-program/article_fb73d61f-2b87-59fb-a25b-7cd33da48b31.html Back to Top Zombie planes technology may resurrect old F-16s in future The Air Force is one step closer to sending zombie planes into combat or on intelligence missions. Don't be too afraid, these planes won't eat your brains. The Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) successfully completed a two-hour test flight of an airplane it fitted with a robotic pilot on Aug. 9 at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. The ROBOpilot program could give new life to old planes that are obsolete or not fit for human flight by turning them into drones. But the program gives the Air Force the option to have a human pilot take over the controls again too. "Imagine being able to rapidly and affordably convert a general aviation aircraft, like a Cessna or Piper, into an unmanned aerial vehicle, having it fly a mission autonomously, and then returning it back to its original manned configuration," said Alok Das, senior scientist with AFRL's Center for Rapid Innovation. "All of this is achieved without making permanent modifications to the aircraft." The program is a collaboration with DZYNE Technologies, a company based out of Irvine, California. "The system 'grabs' the yoke, pushes on the rudders and brakes, controls the throttle, flips the appropriate switches and reads the dashboard gauges the same way a pilot does," an Aug. 15 release from AFRL states. "At the same time, the system uses sensors, like GPS and an Inertial Measurement Unit, for situational awareness and information gathering. A computer analyzes these details to make decisions on how to best control the flight." Engineers remove the pilot seat and install a frame in its place with the equipment, sensors and robot arm that all control the plane. ROBOpilot First Flight "This is clearly an area where we agree there is great potential to advance [unmanned aerial] technology," said Maj. Gen. William Cooley, commander of the Air Force Research Lab, told Federal News Network last year. "As far as technology and the type of things we need to do to build capacity and capability, this is clearly an area of building up autonomous systems that we need to be looking at and we are looking at." The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies championed the idea in one of its policy papers and took the idea to the extremes. "We put out the idea of converting aircraft that are currently in storage simply because cost is everything right now and if you look at those airframes they are certified combat aircraft," said Douglas Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute. The policy paper from the institute explains more. "The Air Force currently has long-term storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona," the policy paper states. "While they may not be the type of aircraft the service would want to send into harm's way with an airman inside, they could prove exceedingly useful when employed in an unmanned fashion, particularly when teamed to create extended kill chains that increase the survivability of exquisite manned aircraft." These planes, which could consist of F-16s, would not be controlled by remote pilots like the MQ-9 or other well-known drones. Rather, the Mitchell Institute envisions a completely autonomous plane that only relies on humans for certain actions. "You might have humans entering the loop to validate a decision they make or something like that, but they're not actually flying by way of remote control," Birkey said. AFRL isn't quite there yet, but the two hour flight is a start to using combat aircraft in a whole new way. The lab developed the system using a direct to phase II small business innovation research contract. "AFRL and DZYNE designed, built and tested ROBOpilot. Engineers demonstrated the initial concept in a RedBird FMX simulator, a full motion, feature-rich advanced aviation training device," the AFRL release states. "ROBOpilot successfully completed simulated autonomous takeoffs, mission navigation and landings in both nominal and off-nominal conditions in this Federal Aviation Administration-certified trainer." https://federalnewsnetwork.com/air-force/2019/08/zombie-planes-technology-may-resurrect-old-f-16s-in-future/slide/1/ Back to Top Kansas Approved for New Type of Drone Flight by FAA (TNS) - A Kansas drone research and development team will soon use an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to "fly a nine-mile track to evaluate technologies to inspect power lines in rural Kansas" in a first-of-its-kind drone flight, according to a recent Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) news release. The 31-member team is a collaborative effort from the Kansas UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP) bringing together personnel from KDOT, Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus (K-State Polytechnic), Westar Energy, and Iris Automation. According to the KDOT release, the department has "received permission to conduct the first ever Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operation in the nation leveraging only onboard detect-and-avoid systems." The release, which also notes that the operation "is the first-ever FAA authorized operation to fly without a requirement for visual observers or ground-based radar," was headlined "Kansas approved for first Beyond Visual Line of Sight drone flight in the nation." Troy Graham, owner of local UAS aerial photography and videography company AV8 Droneworx, pointed out, however, that the new Kansas operation is not the first to receive a partial waiver for Federal Aviation Administration regulations known as Part 107, and specifically from part 107.31, which covers "Visual Line of Sight Aircraft Operation." Waivers for this regulation have in fact been issued going back to 2016. That is not to say that the IPP team is not breaking new ground in drone testing. "This is the first UAV flight in history to leverage onboard sense-and-avoid systems alone for collision avoidance," the KDOT release notes. "It also marks the first required automated avoidance action. Historically, all FAA-issued Part 107 BVLOS waivers have required visual observers or ground-based radar. These mitigations limit the possibility of true BVLOS flights, as they are typically prohibitively expensive and limit operations to pre-defined corridor areas with radar coverage," according to the release. "This important milestone is facilitated by Kansas UAS IPP partner Iris Automation's Casia onboard collision avoidance system." Some of those involved in the collaborative effort behind the new drone flight also discussed aspects of the operation that have not been done before. "The ability to fly BVLOS missions without ground-based radar or visual observers is a significant advancement, and Westar Energy views this as an opportunity to play a key role in shaping the future of UAS operations within the utility industry," said Mike Kelly, Westar Energy Senior UAS Coordinator, according to KDOT's press release. "Being able to operate under this waiver allows the Kansas IPP team the ability to research and develop truly scalable BVLOS UAS operations for the automated inspection of linear infrastructure." Iris Automation CEO and Co-Founder Alexander Harmsen made similar comments in the release. "Flying rural missions like these without a human pilot onboard or costly radar on the ground is exponentially safer and more cost effective," Harmsen said. "The FAA is trusting us to pave the way for a safer, scalable future together with this precedent-setting second approval of our system." Graham similarly said that the recent FAA authorization for KDOT and the IPP team to conduct the new type of drone flight is a notable development. "It'll be one of the things that opens up more doors as far as applications" for flying drones, Graham said. As beyond-visual-line-of-sight flights become more widely authorized and more common, "basically the only limiting factors are going to be drone battery life and the actual signal of the remote control that operates the drone," he added. Graham said that living in a rural area of Crawford County, he sometimes sees small Cessna type airplanes or helicopters flying low over wooded areas, presumably to check for trees growing too close to power lines or other issues with the lines that might be visible from the air. Doing these types of inspections using drones rather than manned aircraft might be more efficient, he said. K-State Polytechnic Campus's Applied Aviation Research Center "will be responsible for the training and flight operations with a cross-functional team from the KDOT IPP," according to the release. Flights will take place in the coming months, "providing the FAA with much-needed data on true BVLOS activity." Kurt Carraway, UAS executive director of the K-State Polytechnic Applied Aviation Research Center, also discussed new drone capabilities that the IPP team is working to enable. "We look forward to leveraging this waiver to integrate UAS technology into the transmission line inspection process," Carraway said in the release. "We are certain that utilities will be able to quickly realize a return on investment while mitigating safety to their maintenance personnel and increasing the reliability of their infrastructure to the general public." KDOT Director of Aviation Bob Brock also commented on the significance of the FAA authorization and the work that has gone into making the new project possible. "The UAS industry has worked over 10 years to demonstrate the most significant commercial benefit of drone operations within the United States," Brock said in the release. "We are proud of the joint state, university and industry team effort that made this landmark decision possible." https://www.govtech.com/products/Kansas-Approved-for-New-Type-of-Drone-Flight-by-FAA.html Back to Top Google pitches plan to restore Silicon Valley's iconic Hangar One The iconic Hangar One at Moffett Field is slated to undergo a five-year restoration effort that would eventually rehabilitate the former airship depot for future use. Under a new set of plans publicized this week, Google's subsidiary Planetary Ventures is proposing an extensive, $157 million operation to purge a variety of toxic compounds from the hangar's 200-foot-tall steel frame. The announcement of a cleanup plan has been a long time coming. In 2015, Google signed a 60-year lease with NASA Ames to take over 1,000 acres at Moffett Field. As part of that deal, Google officials pledged to eventually restore the Hangar One by cleaning up it structure and reskinning it with new siding. But ever since the lease was inked, Planetary Ventures officials have been sparse on details for how and when this cleanup would begin. The company issued occasional updates, mostly saying they were continuing to study the project and test out different cleanup methods. The new 300-page technical report lays out in intricate detail how Planetary Ventures would undertake the complex task of removing lead, asbestos and other harmful chemicals from the massive hangar structure. About 15 years ago, environmental studies determined that these hazardous materials were embedded in Hangar One's paint and siding, and these toxins may have been flaking off and leaching into the nearby baylands. Based on those cleanup costs, U.S. Navy officials in 2011 decided to remove the thousands of panels of corrugated laminate siding covering the hangar, leaving it as a bare steel skeleton. In a controversial move, they also proposed tearing down the structure, describing it as the most sensible plan in light of the immense costs of a full cleanup. At the time, a full rehabilitation of Hangar One was estimated to cost around $40 million. When Google agreed to shoulder Hangar One's restoration as part of the lease, the move was celebrated as a huge victory for an impassioned cohort of historic preservationists who regarded it as an irreplaceable relic of Moffett Field's military days. Those advocates will likely be very happy to hear that the cleanup plans are finally moving forward, said Mountain View resident Greg Unangst, who chairs the Moffett Field Restoration Advisory Board. "People will be amazed at the cost, but they'll be pleased to see that this is finally happening," he said. "Up to this point, a lot of people were getting frustrated over the apparent lack of action." The new report, prepared by the Burlingame consulting firm EKI Environment & Water, examined three options for Hangar One. One option, to do nothing at all, was included only as a baseline for comparison. A second alternative called for recoating the entire structure in a new layer of protective paint that would prevent lead and other substances from chipping off. Going that route would cost about $115 million, but it wouldn't do much to reduce the toxic materials contained in the structure, according to the report. The authors of the report threw their support behind a third option that would involve something akin to sand-blasting the structure to remove its toxic coating. Under this plan, teams of workers would blast the hangar's steel framework with a copper slag powder that was determined to be the most effective substance on use. To fully clean approximately 1.8 million square feet of surface area on the hangar, the consultant team estimates they will need about 5,000 tons of copper slag to do the job, and occasionally they may need workers to go at certain spots with chemical stripping solvents or hand tools. Given Hangar One's massive size, the cleanup project would require a vast quantity of scaffolding that would need to be built all around the interior and exterior. The scaffolding alone is expected to cost $54 million, comprising roughly one third of the total project cost. The project also calls for a plastic covering to be wrapped around all the exterior of Hangar One and a rubber mat to be spread along the base to prevent hazardous wastes from drifting away. In total, the project expects to collect about 6,500 tons of hazardous waste that will be taken to an off-site disposal facility. While Google is showing its commitment to saving Hangar One, the company's longer-term intentions for the hangar remain a total mystery, Unangst said. Initially when the lease was signed, the company indicated it would use the site for research and development of robotics and aviation technology. A request for more details on the future usage of Hangar One could not be immediately answered by a Google spokesperson. The new cleanup plans put together by Planetary Ventures are currently under a 30-day review period for feedback from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. If the plans proceed as scheduled, the cleanup effort would start next year with an expected completion date sometime in 2023. At that time, Planetary Ventures officials expect to begin "recladding" the hangar, covering the steel framing with a new paneling. https://mv-voice.com/news/2019/08/17/google-pitches-plan-to-restore-silicon-valleys-iconic-hangar-one Back to Top Sustainability Series: Sustainable kerosene as aviation fuel How did the project come about? We all want to take our responsibility in curbing climate change. The aviation industry is currently responsible for approximately two per cent of global antropogenic (man-made) CO2 emissions. With aviation expected to rise significantly in the coming decades, and other industries gradually becoming less emitting, this percentage is expected to rise to five per cent by 2050. While the aviation industry is not part of the Paris Accord, it has committed itself to the emission reduction of 50 per cent of the 2005 exhaust levels by 2050. It is also likely that the aviation industry will see additional regulation in the future. In many European countries, including the Netherlands, aviation taxation is in place or will be soon. In addition, aviation (CO2) taxation is being discussed on an EU level. So, it is absolutely the right time for the aviation industry, whether it is airlines, fuel producers or airports, to make a difference. That is why Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTHA) was presented with the idea of starting a demonstration plant producing renewable jet fuel from air by Climeworks and Urban Crossovers. This demonstration plant will enable us to filter CO2 directly from the air (Direct Air Capture/ D.A.C), and refine it onsite into renewable kerosene. The proposal coincided with the RTHA establishing the Rotterdam The Hague Innovation Airport (RHIA). This foundation has the purpose of facilitating and testing aviation innovations in hospitality, entrepreneurship, education, emergency and energy and environment. Initiating a demonstration plant for renewable jet fuel from air fits the purposes of RHIA very well. Why is the use of sustainable kerosene better than regular aviation fuel? Regular fossil-based aviation fuel is polluting. Like any other mobility service, aviation has to explore sustainable alternatives. Not unlike shipping and heavy long-haul road transportation, aviation cannot shift to electric power or hydrogen fuel in the short- and mid-term on the same scale as the automotive sector. Electrification is therefore only feasible on a smaller scale, e.g. a 20-seat carrier. Rotterdam The Hague Airport is also a hub for developing electric aviation. But, for larger-scale flights over longer distances, an alternative to fossil jet fuel has to be developed in the short-term: This is where renewable jet fuels from air comes into play as a serious alternative for both fossil and biofuels. Because we take the CO2 directly from air, we do not have to go through all of the processes that biofuel, for instance, does. We do not have to grow plants, making use of valuable land and water, to harvest the vegetation for biofuels. In the longer term (10 years from now and beyond) this is highly important since biofuels cannot provide the amount of fuel required for aviation without seriously usurping agricultural land and water that are currently allocated to food production. The resulting kerosene can be blended to 50 per cent and fuelled into the planes that are currently in operation. This project allows us to kickstart a more sustainable aviation right now, without having to first develop and implement costly innovations into adjusting, or even replacing, aircraft. In addition, planes that run on renewable fuels use less fuel, and exhaust little to no fine particle matter, much less nitrogen oxide (NOx) and much less sulphur oxide (SOx) which in densely-populated areas around Schiphol Airport and Rotterdam airport are equally, if not arguably more, important as CO2. How is it manufactured? Based on existing technologies and renewable fuels production know-how from project partners and demonstrated on a smaller scale in several R&D projects, we will perform the basic engineering and design of the renewable jet fuels from air plant. We will also carry out a cost and business analysis for an actual production facility of commercially available renewable jet fuel from air at the particular site of Rotterdam The Hague Airport. With the pilot plant, we connect a chain of modular innovative but proven technologies: Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology; capturing CO2 from air; Company: Climeworks Co-Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cells (Co-SOEC); producing so-called synthesis gas (CO + H2) from CO2 and water; Company: Sunfire Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis (FTS); converting the synthesis gas into liquid hydrocarbon products; Company: Ineratec Refining; converting FTS hydrocarbon products into kerosene with Jet A-1 quality; Company: EDL. Can the manufacture keep up with the pace of expansion in the industry? This project kickstarts the production of renewable fuel from air for the commercial market. It lifts production from a lab level of approximately one litre a day or per week, to approximately 1,000 litres a day. This is a significant step forward, but this number does not come close to the required volumes that aviation consumes on a global market. All innovations in the chain we provide are of modest size (container shipping size) and modular. This makes it very suitable for a range of production scales and, in theory, on a footloose basis. It allows the production of renewable fuel in remote conditions, but also allows a significant scale-up towards the refinery of large volumes. This scale-up takes time and resources, but with this demonstration plant we aim to kickstart its development. Are there any dangers surrounding the use of kerosene? Once refining is complete, the renewable fuel meets the exact same specifications as other Jet A fuel. It can be tanked into planes that are operational today and has the same safety status as any other kerosene. How will the innovation campus fit into the landscape of the airport? Is there not limited room? Due to the modular design of the technologies we use, the Pilot Plant on the innovation campus will be of a relatively modest size. As such, it will not be a large-scale, unhospitable refinery typical to those found in large petrochemical complexes. It will instead be an attractive facility on a scale that blends in well with the surrounding buildings of the campus, which include small-scale hydrogen production, a large solar field, electric and hybrid flying facilities (together with the Technical University of Delft) offices and hangars. Because this will be a world first, we are planning a designated visitor centre to receive and inform visitors such as school classes, interested business and government delegations, as well as travellers. Does this project have legs for expansion? The aim of the project is to scale-up. It is the only way renewable jet fuel from air can make a true difference to the worldwide emission levels of CO2. Such a scale-up will most likely take place in the Rotterdam harbour complex, providing a much needed second life to the currently fossil-based petrochemical complex, or similar sites elsewhere. When will we see the first renewable kerosene powered flight? If all goes according to plan, then we expect to have the first flight with our blend take off by 2022. https://www.internationalairportreview.com/article/99312/sustainable-kerosene-as-aviation-fuel/ Back to Top The Full Potential of Connected Aerospace Lost to history is the name of the first person to make a phone call or send an email from 35,000 feet. But we doubt that even the most visionary satellite communications pioneers realized the potential of connectivity to impact the entire aerospace industry. Today flight crews use connectivity to develop flight plans, preview runways and get real-time weather updates. Passengers connect to ground-quality Wi-Fi anywhere they fly. Maintenance teams check the performance and health of aircraft systems. Dispatchers drive better on-time performance. Operations teams monitor and save fuel. Ground crews reduce turn-around time. And much more. Connected aerospace is a modern miracle that makes flying safer, more efficient and more comfortable. But, as far as we've come in recent years, we're convinced we've just scratched the surface of the enormous potential of connected aerospace. The near future will bring even more opportunities and more tangible benefits to civilian and military operators and the flying public. Connected aerospace is a big part of Honeywell's identity. In fact, Honeywell is the only company that provides all three elements of the total connected aircraft solution. It's analogous to your smartphone in the sense that in both cases you need hardware, an airtime plan and applications. Our satellite communications hardware enables data to move both ways between the aircraft and the ground. We offer a wide range of SATCOM systems to meet the needs of both flight crews and passengers. A great example is the Honeywell JetWave system, which represents a real breakthrough in satellite communications technology. JetWave provides users with in-flight Wi-Fi that is fast, reliable, secure and available anywhere you fly, even on international or transoceanic flights. Our JetWave hardware connects with the Inmarsat Global Xpress satellite constellation using the Ka-Band, which enables a Wi-Fi experience comparable to the one you have in your home or office - including the ability to stream live video and send huge data files. We've sold more than 1,300 JetWave systems so far. Since our acquisition of Satcom1 in 2015, Honeywell has grown to become the second-largest provider of in-flight airtime services. Today we offer a wide range of flexible, affordable plans to meet your specific needs, whether you're connecting using JetWave and the Ka- Band, a Ku-Band system, Swiftbroadband or another option. Our airtime packages make sure you stay connected and control your costs wherever you fly. You can realize the full potential of connected aerospace with smart, easyto- use applications from Honeywell and our industry-leading Honeywell Forge Solutions. Examples include GoDirect Cabin, which keeps passengers productive and entertained. Honeywell Forge Flight Efficiency uses advanced analytics to reduce fuel consumption 3-4 percent. Honeywell Forge Connected Maintenance delivers prescriptive and predictive data that improve safety and reduce maintenance costs. And our new GoDirect Ground Handling solution improves efficiency and makes turnarounds a breeze. The innovators at Honeywell are constantly developing new applications and looking for ways to improve our connected aerospace product, services and software solutions. We're proud of what they've accomplished, but we're confident that there's much more to come. Stay tuned!. https://www.ainonline.com/sponsored-content/aerospace/2019-08-16/full-potential-connected-aerospace Back to Top How space technology has improved the airline experience "Did you ever want to be an astronaut?" is one of the questions that almost every pilot is occasionally asked. "Of course", I reply. Indeed, the recent 50th anniversary of the Moon landing was a welcome reminder to me of my brief "astronaut phase" as a child, as well as of the fascinating links between commercial aviation and the final frontier. One example is onboard WiFi, which, as a former management consultant, I imagine is changing the experience of business travel. WiFi often relies on connections between earth-orbiting satellites and specialised antennas on airliners - easy to spot on the upper rear fuselage of your jet. While satellite-enabled passenger WiFi is a relatively new technology, pilots have had access to satellite communications for years. We use this connection to exchange text messages with engineers, flight planners, and customer service colleagues on the ground, for example, and to request updated airport weather reports and high-altitude wind forecasts. In addition, we can use a satellite-enabled telephone line - the Batphone, colloquially - to contact a doctor on behalf of an unwell passenger. On the 787 we can even route this call to the cabin, allowing the cabin crew (or a medical professional from among the passengers) to confer directly with a doctor on the far side of the planet. GPS navigation, of course, also relies on satellites. But the most awe-inspiring technology I learnt about when I became a pilot is one known as inertial navigation. It owes much to the Apollo programme, and it's no coincidence that its debut on the 747 came 50 years ago, too. An inertial system uses accelerometers and gyroscopes to sense accelerations and rotations. It can tell us critical information, such as which way up is - priceless when flying in cloud. An inertial system can also compute a vessel's position, based on what it has sensed in the time that's passed since a previous known position. And once it's been set up, it doesn't require any further outside inputs - such as from GPS satellites, stars or radio beacons - in order to do so. I've yet to get over the brilliance of this: it just "knows" where we are (and therefore can't be jammed). Today, while most airliners use both GPS and inertial data, our inertial systems are among the first we switch on when we sit down in the cockpit - because they require a few minutes of Zen-like meditative stillness, known as "alignment", during which they sense gravity and the earth's rotation, and because so much else in the cockpit depends on them. There's another Nasa-developed technology, of a sort, in cockpits, though there are no switches or controls for it. CRM, or Crew Resource Management, was developed in the late 1970s with help from the space agency. As distinct from practical flying skills and technical knowledge, CRM focuses on the "human factor" - the teamwork and interpersonal skills required to fly airliners that are designed to be operated by two pilots working together. For example, in a CRM session in a flight simulator, we might practise phrasing questions without specifying the answer we think is correct: "What altitude are you expecting at this waypoint?" instead of, "You're thinking 7,000 feet at this waypoint, right?" CRM training, which now includes cabin crew, is one of the most important parts of our biannual simulator training and testing sessions. And, just like our famous checklists, CRM has migrated to other safety-critical fields, such as medicine. There's one final piece of space-based technology worth pointing out, arriving, as it did, 100 years after the first nonstop transatlantic flight. The North Atlantic is the world's busiest oceanic airspace, but traffic within it is constrained by the limited range of ground-based radar. To compensate, controllers must increase the distance between aircraft - both laterally ("wing to wing") and longitudinally ("nose to tail"). This increased separation means that we can't always fly the most efficient (and least turbulent) routes, speeds, and altitudes - all of which, to complicate things further, vary constantly as an aircraft's weight reduces (as fuel is burnt) and meteorological conditions change. In January, however, an unmanned rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in southern California. Its cargo of satellites completed a network that works with existing airliner equipment to give air traffic controllers, for the first time in history, a radar-like view of the open Atlantic. The technology, known as "Space-Based ADS-B", allows more aircraft to fly optimised routes, at more efficient speeds and altitudes, thereby reducing fuel consumption by an average of 600kg per flight, according to NATS, the UK-based air traffic services provider. Even I don't want to watch a film about the rocket that made this possible. But whichever Apollo film you're next catching up on, spare a thought for the unsung mission that might make your own journeys a little smoother and shorter. https://www.ft.com/content/7323f2c6-b762-11e9-96bd-8e884d3ea203 Back to Top Why Militaries Are Having Trouble Recruiting Pilots "I'm a pilot." There, that was easy wasn't it? As an old(ish) and bold ex-military aviator I feel genetically and socially pre-conditioned to tell you that I'm a pilot as soon as possible after I've met you - though it's a tough call these days whether I ask for your WiFi password first. After all, don't all kids still want to be pilots when they grow up (accepting the old aviation maxim that you can be a pilot or grow up - you can't do both...)? As an aviation-mad kid in the 70s and 80s I watched daring pilots with "bullet-proof" moustaches don flight kit and strap into a plethora of exotic, noisy and fast machines. In the UK, teenage "me" wanted, desperately, to fly either the F-4 Phantom or the Buccaneer (an ultra-low-level attack aircraft) - then the original "Top Gun" came out in 1986 and it served as perhaps the biggest piece of confirmation bias in the first 20 years of my life. As a young Air Cadet, I got strapped into a 1950s piston trainer, the Chipmunk, and taken aerobatic flying by a pilot who seemed impossibly old to be still flying, and whose flight suit still wore the faded badges of long disbanded squadrons and retired aircraft. Sat in the back of the "Chippie," literally having my world turned upside down, whilst wearing a flying helmet and parachute, was truly life affirming. Nothing was going to stop me from, one day, walking to that flight line to find a jet with my name painted on the canopy rail. Events sadly conspired against me in this respect. The post-Cold War 'peace dividend' saw my beloved F-4 and Buccaneer retired early, and thus the RAF had too many trained fast jet pilots. Having got to the end of training, about 90% of my class were switched to helicopters as the "hold" to get to a Fast Jet course had reached nearly 3 years due to the overload. But, hey, I was still going to be a military aviator! In the end I only retain the merest twinge of 'what if' and had a thoroughly satisfying career operating in most of the world's war zones, taking troops into combat on assaults and helping to save lives on MEDEVAC missions. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. Why then are today's militaries having issues with pilot recruitment and retention? In the U.S., all services are experiencing acute problems retaining their experienced crews. As long ago as 2000, according to RAND, the USAF was 'facing the largest peacetime pilot shortage in its history.' Importantly, this report was published before the 9/11 attacks and over a decade of sustained expeditionary warfare - a decade where many pilots, and, tellingly, their families, were simply 'burned out' by regular overseas deployments. Current figures on the USAF pilot shortage vary, but according to an article in the Air Force Times in November 2017 the number was 'roughly 2000' of which 1300 were fighter pilots. The reasons why experienced aviators leave are well known; time away from home, lack of promotion opportunity, the erosion of 'fun' and of the 'fighter pilot culture', leadership via management and, to cap it all, a global Commercial Aviation sector with an insatiable need for pilots that far outstrips the ability of the civil training system to feed it (see Marisa Garcia's excellent article for more detail). For a worn-out pilot, and his/her family, the lure of an airline job with a better salary, secure roster and perks such as free flights is understandable. Especially if they've been passed over for promotion, there's little 'fun flying' to be had and the culture has become potentially toxic through the command chain. Aviators have always left. We've always refilled the pool. Why might it be different today? Leaving aside the time and cost issues of selecting and training pilots, there are a number of social factors that are starting to impact upon military recruitment. There's a strong familial tradition in most militaries - children follow parents in their career choices. My son, largely thanks to his mother, is a bright and capable individual. He's currently at university being sponsored by a global technology company to gain a degree in Digital Technology and Business. He had not the slightest interest in serving; the company ethos he has signed up to is flexi-time, great perks, a 'polos and chinos' working environment and excellent on-site facilities. He didn't even consider a military career and knows of very few others that do - and only then as something of a 'gap filler' while they work out what they really want to do, or, worse, because they've run out of other options. While attempting to retain experience is vital to today's militaries, so is the continued recruitment of high-calibre young people. The demographic, society, and expectations are all changing. The days of the hard flyin', hard drinkin' male-dominated squadron bar are approaching their denouement. The old currency of 'he's a good stick' is rapidly being replaced by 'she's a great systems manager and tactician.' Aircraft are getting ever-easier to fly, but ever-harder to fight in a contested battlespace of greater lethality and congestion. Just being 'good on the sticks' doesn't cut it any more - we need crews with the ability to interact with complex networks and systems, to control automated wingmen, command swarms of UAVs and to exercise nuanced judgement when deploying weapons in the full glare of the world's media. To attract such people, the military needs to move with the times. A stereotypical 'cyber warrior' who can earn a handsome salary as a White Hat for a major corporation is not likely to be attracted by poor accommodation, woeful leadership and a 1970s view on discipline. Of course, there will still be thousands of applicants for pilot training each year. But with the changing need the military should ensure it makes a compelling offer to people from a non-traditional background, with a 21st Century skillset, and the correct aptitude to operate today's and tomorrow's technology. Who knows, maybe 'Top Gun 2' will not only wallow in 1980s nostalgia, but signpost a military career to, and attract, the next generation of technology-savvy war-fighters? https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulkennard/2019/08/16/pilotswhats-the-problem/#8b00201fe1d5 Back to Top SpaceX, NASA practice astronaut recovery ahead of Crew Dragon's crewed launch debut SpaceX and NASA teams continue to prepare for Crew Dragon's inaugural crewed launch (Demo-2) to the International Space Station (ISS) slated to possibly - but not likely - occur by year's end. On Tuesday, an official NASA Twitter account published images of teams from SpaceX and the space agency performing a full rehearsal of crew recovery and extraction procedures, including the duo of NASA astronauts scheduled to fly first on SpaceX's next-generation spacecraft. The rehearsal took place at the Trident Basin in Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard GO Searcher, one of two East Coast recovery vessels SpaceX uses for Crew Dragon recoveries. A high-fidelity mockup of Crew Dragon was used to better familiarize all members involved with the process of safely extricating astronauts from the SpaceX spacecraft. This is the first time that multiple SpaceX and NASA teams have fully integrated to work aboard the ship and simulate the recovery process. The teams practiced helping the astronauts exit the capsule and simulated receiving medical attention that may be necessary when in a hypothetical emergency return from the ISS. This practice run follows a recent full dress rehearsal of suit-up and pre-flight procedures that were conducted at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Following that dress rehearsal, SpaceflightNow.com reported that a newly installed slide wire emergency egress system was tested at Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida where the crewed DM-2 Mission will be launching from. Crew Dragon's Demonstration Mission 1 (Demo-1) launch presented SpaceX with a full-fidelity opportunity to hone capsule retrieval practices, but SpaceX teams did not practice astronaut extraction from the capsule - Demo-1 flight was uncrewed aside from an Anthropomorphic Test Device (i.e. dummy) nicknamed Ripley. The rehearsal on Tuesday served as familiarization for teams to extract astronauts from the capsule once it has been recovered aboard GO Searcher while still docked. On Thursday, August 15th, two days after the above capsule extraction rehearsal, NASA once more posted photos of GO Searcher-related rehearsal operations, this time involving a drill in which astronauts needed to be airlifted immediately to land-based medical facilities. According to local observers and confirmed by the official NASA photos, a helicopter did indeed land on GO Searcher's dedicated helipad before quickly departing with medically sensitive cargo. Searcher has its own simple medical facilities onboard but they are only capable of dealing with fairly routine concerns, focused primarily on aiding astronauts who are going from half a year in microgravity to full Earth gravity. While there are still many milestones to get through before Crew Dragon can take flight for the second time, these numerous rehearsals of critical launch and recovery procedures are incredibly important, helping SpaceX and NASA teams hone their working relationship as both prepare to enter a new stage of the Commercial Crew Program. Demo-1 astronaut Col. Bob Behnken summarized it nicely, stating that, "each of these exercises puts us one step closer to fulfilling NASA's mission of returning astronauts to the International Space Station from U.S. soil." https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-nasa-crew-dragon-astronaut-recovery-rehearsals/ Curt Lewis