Flight Safety Information - March 29, 2021 No. 064 In This Issue : Incident: Aeroflot B738 at Krasnodar on Mar 28th 2021, flaps problems : Incident: ANA B773 over Pacific on Mar 28th 2021, engine shut down in flight : Incident: Fedex MD11 at London on Mar 25th 2021, engine trouble : Incident: Aeroflot A333 at Vladivostok on Mar 27th 2021, rejected takeoff due to engine failure : Five killed, one hurt as helicopter crashes at Alaska glacier : Busy Piedmont Denies Pilots Vaccination Time Off : Hawaii crash prompts push for new air tour safety regulations : Utah Mandates $100,000 Liability Insurance For Aircraft : Safety exercises ordered for helicopter operators in Malaysia : Finnair Plans To Electrify Fleet with Heart ES-19 Aircraft : Air Force Trying To Attract Civilian Pilots : Southwest Airlines adds 100 orders for Boeing 737 MAX jet : The F-35 may be unsalvageable : Rolls-Royce looks to the future with start of UltraFan build : NASA wants to help private space stations get off the ground Incident: Aeroflot B738 at Krasnodar on Mar 28th 2021, flaps problems An Aeroflot Boeing 737-800, registration VP-BZB performing flight SU-1104 from Moscow Sheremetyevo to Krasnodar (Russia) with 149 people on board, was on approach to Krasnodar's runway 23L when the crew stopped the descent at 3000 feet and entered a hold for about one hour reporting problems with the flaps. The aircraft subsequently landed safely at a higher than normal speed (touchdown at about 176 knots over ground) on runway 23L. On Mar 29th 2021 Rosaviatsia reported the crew attempted to deploy slats and flaps at about 4000 feet, the flaps and slats remained retracted however. The crew entered a hold to work the related checklists, deployed the slats via the backup, the flaps however remained retracted. The aircraft landed at a higher than normal speed. The aircraft vacated the runway and stopped on the taxiway, passengers vacated onto the taxiway and were bussed to the terminal. https://avherald.com/h?article=4e511578&opt=0 Incident: ANA B773 over Pacific on Mar 28th 2021, engine shut down in flight An ANA All Nippon Airways Boeing 777-300, registration JA788A performing flight NH-106 from Tokyo Haneda (Japan) to Los Angeles,CA (USA), was enroute at FL350 over the Pacific Ocean about 620nm west of Vancouver,BC (Canada) and about 1270nm northwest of Los Angeles, when the crew needed to shut the left hand engine (GE90) down due to loss of oil pressure. The aircraft drifted down to FL240 and diverted to Vancouver for a safe landing on runway 26R about 115 minutes after leaving FL350. The aircraft taxied to the apron after inspection by emergency services. https://avherald.com/h?article=4e514c23&opt=0 Incident: Fedex MD11 at London on Mar 25th 2021, engine trouble A Fedex Federal Express McDonnell Douglas MD-11, registration N582FE performing flight FX-9049 from London Stansted,EN (UK) to Memphis,TN (USA), was climbing out of Stansted's runway 22 when the crew stopped the climb at 4000 feet due to engine #3 (CF6, right hand) trouble. The aircraft turned north, overflew Bishop's Stortford,EN (UK) on vectors, subsrquently climbed to FL070, later climbed to FL140, turned out to the North Sea to dump fuel, and returned to Stansted for a safe landing on runway 22 about 65 minutes after departure. A resident in Bishop's Stortford reported he heard an aircraft late night around 22:30L (22:30Z) emitting bangs similiar to compressor stalls. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in London about 69 hours after landing back. The engine is going to be replaced. https://avherald.com/h?article=4e4f6e71&opt=0 Incident: Aeroflot A333 at Vladivostok on Mar 27th 2021, rejected takeoff due to engine failure An Aeroflot Airbus A330-300, registration VP-BDD performing flight SU-1703 from Vladivostok to Moscow Sheremetyevo (Russia), was accelerating for takeoff from Vladivostok's runway 25L when the crew rejected takeoff at low speed (just below 80 knots over ground) due to an engine (Trent 772) failure. The aircraft slowed safely and returned to the apron. The aircraft is still on the ground in Vladivostok about 17 hours after the rejected takeoff. The airport reported the passengers disembarked and were taken to hotels. Passengers reported one of the engines failed during the takeoff run, the crew reacted quickly as lightning. https://avherald.com/h?article=4e507483&opt=0 Five killed, one hurt as helicopter crashes at Alaska glacier ANCHORAGE (Reuters) - Five people were killed and one injured in a helicopter crash at a glacier near Anchorage, Alaska State Troopers said on Sunday. Searchers found the crash site and survivor late Saturday night after the chopper was reported overdue, the troopers said in a written statement. The injured person was reported to be in serious but stable condition. The helicopter was ferrying skiers who had been on a backcountry tour, the troopers said. Killed were Petr Kellner, 56, and Benjamin Larochaix, 50, both of the Czech Republic; Gregory Harms, 52, of Colorado; Sean McManamy, 38, and pilot Zachary Russell, 33, the troopers said. The survivor, who was not identified late Sunday, was hospitalized, the trooper said. The crash site was near Knik Glacier northeast of Anchorage. The helicopter was an Airbus AS350B3 owned by Soloy Helicopters of Wasilla, Alaska, the troopers said. The victims’ bodies were recovered Sunday by the Alaska Army National Guard and volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group, the trooper said. The remains have been turned over to the state medical examiner, the troopers said. A temporary flight restriction imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration was lifted late Sunday. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, the troopers said. Knik Glacier, in the northern Chugach Mountains, is a destination for sightseeing flights and, in summer, hiking and boating tours. The crash site is near the Knik River outflow of the 28-mile glacier, according to a map provided by the troopers. Knik Glacier and other glaciers in the area have been the sites of numerous military and civilian air crashes over several decades. Another backcountry skier was killed this weekend in a separate accident in the same general area. Erin Lee, 40, of Fairbanks died Saturday after being buried in an avalanche near Matanuska Glacier, also northeast of Anchorage. https://www.yahoo.com/news/five-killed-one-hurt-helicopter-214121599.html Busy Piedmont Denies Pilots Vaccination Time Off Piedmont Airlines is under scrutiny after denying pilots time off to get COVID-19 vaccinations last weekend in order to maintain its schedule. FAA rules require pilots to take 48 hours off after getting the shot and last weekend was the start of Spring Break, a big deal in the Southeast where Piedmont, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines, provides regional service with Embraer 145s. “Piedmont will be unable to release any additional pilots for COVID vaccination for the weekend of March 19-21 due to high demand,” the airline said in a memo to its 500 pilots and obtained by CBS. Chief Pilot John Pursell went on to say that pilots should delay vaccines until the end of March so the airline could maintain “operational reliability.” The airline also sent another memo saying it understands that pilots want to get vaccinated as soon as possible but to do it on their own time. The memo said pilots “must make every effort to schedule their single-shot vaccine or the first shot of a two-shot vaccine during their off-time and when the required 48-hour post period will not interfere with their flight schedule.” https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/piedmont-denies-pilots-vaccination-time-off/ Hawaii crash prompts push for new air tour safety regulations Mar. 28—When the people who went skydiving on the ill-fated Oahu Parachute Center plane at Dillingham Airfield on June 21, 2019, paid their money they knew the risks of jumping out of an airplane. What they didn't know, according to federal air safety officials, was that the aircraft was defective and the pilot poorly trained. The twin-engine Beechcraft BE65-A90 aircraft crashed shortly after take-off, killing all 10 passengers and the pilot. That fatal incident and a handful of others across the country prompted the National Transportation Safety Board to call for greater Federal Aviation Administration oversight of certain revenue passenger-carrying air operations. In a board meeting on Tuesday, the NTSB said people who pay for an air tour, a parachute jump flight or an extreme aerobatic experience flight are likely unaware many companies are not subject to the same maintenance, airworthiness and operational requirements as other revenue flight operations. "They have the right to expect effective safety standards, " NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt said in a statement after the board meeting. "Currently that is not the case, and this exposes customers to unnecessary risks." The board made six recommendations urging the FAA to enact a more robust regulatory framework for "Part 91 " operators, including new training, maintenance and management policies. In Hawaii, most air tour companies operate under more stringent Part 135 standards that are more costly to comply with but allow for more flexible operations. Fewer companies here are authorized to operate commercially under the less stringent general aviation standards under Part 91, which, among other things, restrict operations so that flights begin and end at the same airport and are conducted within a 25-mile radius. While tours operating under Part 135 undergo more frequent, rigorous aircraft maintenance and pilot training, Part 91 operators are generally subject to less oversight. The Oahu Parachute Center, now closed, was one of Hawaii's Part 91 operators. The NTSB has yet to release its final report on the Dillingham crash. However, in a report prepared for Tuesday's meeting, the NTSB said it determined the probable cause of the Mokuleia accident was the pilot's aggressive takeoff maneuver—a move that caused the airplane to stall and the pilot to lose control at an altitude too low for recovery. Contributing to the accident, according to the report, were :—Too much weight in the rear of the aircraft and the pilot's lack of training and experience with the handling qualities of the airplane.—The failure of the company and its contract mechanic to maintain the airplane in an airworthy condition and to detect and repair the airplane's twisted left wing, which reduced the airplane's stall margin.—The FAA's insufficient regulatory framework for overseeing parachute jump operations. Contributing to the pilot's training deficiencies, the report said, was the FAA's lack of awareness that the pilot's flight instructor was providing substandard training. The preliminary report, approved by the NTSB on Tuesday, makes recommendations to the FAA for upgrading Part 91 operational safety, including closing regulatory loopholes, developing a database of those operations, giving inspectors better guidance for surveillance and requiring companies to develop safety management systems similar to those used by larger flight companies, but geared to smaller operations. Asked for a response to the NTSB recommendations, the FAA provided this statement : "The FAA has a close working relationship with the NTSB, and the two agencies share a common goal of promoting aviation safety and preventing aircraft accidents. The FAA has a number of initiatives under way to improve the safety of operations conducted under Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. We take NTSB recommendations very seriously and will carefully consider all of the recommendations and input the Board provided this week." Richard Schuman, owner of Oahu-based Magnum Helicopters, a Part 135 operator, said he not only welcomes greater FAA oversight of Part 91 companies, but thinks they should be made to operate under Part 135 if they are carrying the public. "If you're transporting passengers, absolutely you should be Part 135, " he said. "If you and your wife are going on an air tour, the expectation is that the guy flying the thing is doing it with safety in mind. If your operations are not safe, the government has to make it that way for you." Schuman said it costs at least twice as much to operate a Part 135-regulated aircraft, and it's unfair that some Part 91 operators are able to undercut the companies that are running under more costly safety requirements. "They are a thorn in the industry at the commercial level, " he said. Asked to respond to the NTSB recommendations, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said it supports safety management systems for operations "where it makes sense." "But we must ensure that single or very small Part 91 operators using their airplanes for business (revenue ) purposes do not become subject to onerous, complex, and burdensome reporting requirements, " Jim Coon, AOPA senior vice president of government affairs, said in a statement. "AOPA will continue to support effective, scalable, and sensible safety solutions, including SMS, for aircraft operations that fit the size and risk of the operation." The Hawaii Helicopter Association declined to comment, saying it would refrain until the NTSB recommendations are finalized. But the Helicopter Association International issued a statement saying it supports more pilot training and a safety management system for any for-hire passenger-carrying operation. According to the FAA, the agency has already launched the rule-making process to require safety management systems for on-demand /charter operators and operators conducting air tours under Part 91. In addition, the FAA in recent years has bumped up the number of inspections required of Part 91 air tour operators, the agency said, and such operations must have drug and alcohol testing programs and follow the safety requirements found in the FAA's air tour rule (Part 136 ). U.S. Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii ), who has tangled with the Hawaii helicopter tour industry in an effort to restrict noise, offered this reaction : "Tragically, the NTSB's report and recommendations still again highlight the critical need to further regulate our air tour industry. The FAA's current regulations simply are not keeping our skies and ground safe. There are just too many cowboys cutting too many corners with too little real oversight. The FAA must finally implement what the NTSB has urged over too many fatal crashes." https://news.yahoo.com/hawaii-crash-prompts-push-air-161200746.html Utah Mandates $100,000 Liability Insurance For Aircraft Utah has made a minimum of $100,000 in liability insurance mandatory for owners of general aviation aircraft after some crashes involving uninsured planes. The bill was passed as an amendment to existing legislation and requires minimum coverage of up to $50,000 for bodily injury per accident, up to $50,000 for property damage and no more than $100,000 total for both types of damage. Utah is the 12th state to mandate liability insurance for GA aircraft. The only criticism of the measure so far is that $100,000 is a drop in the bucket to cover the damages that can result from airplane crashes. “It was done for the right reasons with good intentions, but it’s a little short on money,” Bryant Garrett, the manager of Ogden-Hinckley Airport told the Standard-Examiner, reprinted by the Salt Lake Tribune. Republican Rep. Cheryl Acton said the number was picked so as not to be “overly burdensome” on recreational pilots, according to the newspaper account. The bill was triggered by a 2020 accident in Acton’s constituency of West Jordan that destroyed a house. In 2017, a pilot on a pre-purchase flight had to put down on a road after engine trouble. The aircraft hit a car and because there was no liability insurance car owner’s only recourse was the courts. She’s suing the pilot and the company that maintained the aircraft. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/utah-mandates-100000-liability-insurance-for-aircraft/ Safety exercises ordered for helicopter operators in Malaysia The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has ordered local helicopter operators, maintenance organizations and helicopter pilots to participate in a mandatory safety awareness exercise (Courtesy: CAAM) Chester Voo, CAAM CEO, said immediate action was needed to address safety concerns involving helicopter operations in the country, following a third air accident involving helicopters in less than six months. On 8 November 2020, two Guimbal Cabri helicopters collided during a training flight on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. One of the aircraft crashed, claiming the lives of former Royal Malaysian Navy officer Mohamed Sabri Baharom and Mohd Irfan Fikri Mohamed Rawi. Former Malaysia Airlines CEO Datuk Ahmad Jauhari Yahya and his passenger, Tan Chai Eian survived after their chopper made an emergency landing. All helicopter operators in Malaysia are inspected "CAAM wishes to clarify that all helicopter operators in Malaysia are fully inspected and are required to hold valid licences and maintenance certificates to ensure the validity of the pilots' qualification as well as the airworthiness of the helicopters," Voo said in a statement. The Air Accident Investigation Bureau under the Transport Ministry will investigate the cause of the incident, while CAAM will carry out exercises to ensure that these risks are mitigated to prevent further incidents, Voo added. "This careful action is done in the fair execution of Malaysian regulations and most importantly, in the interest of the safety of all.” Recently, the US Helicopter Safety Team has developed a new Recommended Practices document focusing on ‘Spatial Disorientation Induced by a Degraded Visual Environment’ and offering training and decision-making solutions. https://www.airmedandrescue.com/latest/news/safety-exercises-ordered-helicopter-operators-malaysia Finnair Plans To Electrify Fleet with Heart ES-19 Aircraft Heart Aerospace now has early commitments for more than 300 of its all-electric ES-19 regional airliners from 12 carriers. Finnair has signed a so-called letter of interest with Swedish electric aircraft developer Heart Aerospace that could lead to the airline’s acquisition of as many as 20 of Heart’s 19-seat ES-19 model for use on short routes. According to Heart CEO Anders Forslund, 12 airlines have now signed letters of interest covering more than 300 prospective orders, with Finnair being the most prominent to make a public commitment so far. Heart Aerospace in September unveiled the electric propulsion system meant to power the ES-19. Scheduled for entry into service in third-quarter 2026, the airplane features four propellers powered by electric motors. The preliminary design for the aluminum-fuselage, fixed-wing model shows winglets and a T-shaped tail and somewhat resembles a smaller version of the De Havilland Canada Dash 7. According to Forslund, Heart is close to making an announcement about further investment in its venture. Later this year, it expects to announce several partners who will supply key systems for the ES-19 and potentially help with manufacturing too. “So far we have been overwhelmed by the number of Tier One suppliers expressing an interest and we expect to put together an international team,” he told AIN. “We have built the propulsion system demonstrator and the next challenge is to show that we can build a full aircraft and make it work with all the subsystems, such as avionics, flight controls, and de-icing.” Finnair’s acquisition would help it meet its goal of flying carbon neutral by 2045. The carrier has set an interim objective of halving carbon dioxide from its fleet by 2030. Two years ago, Finnair joined the Nordic Network for Electric Aviation (NEA), which has seen governments, airlines and companies collaborate on new projects to develop sustainable ways to travel. The NEA’s goals center on four key areas: standardizing electric air infrastructure in the Nordic countries; developing business models for regional point-to-point connectivity; developing aircraft technology for Nordic weather conditions; and creating a platform for European and global collaborations. In the same region, the Norwegian government has said that all domestic flights must use electric aircraft by 2040. In Sweden, there is a mandate for all domestic airline services to run without fossil fuel by 2030, and this will extend to international flights from 2045. And this week, the Swedish government said from July it plans to introduce takeoff and landing charges that it says will encourage airlines to use more fuel-efficient aircraft with lower carbon emissions. “We have worked closely with the NEA but getting this commitment from Finnair is really important,” said Forslund. “The big challenge of building an electric aircraft isn’t just in the technology, but also building the momentum to create a project like this and building it all the way.” Finnair’s plans would initially call for the use of electric aircraft on its shortest routes, helping to cut emissions and, potentially, invigorating local economies, said Forslund. Heart Aerospace, which is headquartered at Gothenburg’s Save Airport, quotes a range for the all-electric ES-19 aircraft of up to around 400 km (217 nm). Specifications also show the airplane could operate on runways as short as 750 meters (2,461 feet), fly at a top speed of 215 knots, and cruise at a speed of 180 knots. The company maintains that the low speeds will not pose a disadvantage on short sectors, especially because the aircraft would be able to operate from smaller, less crowded airfields that will shorten door-to-door journey times. Finnair’s plans would have to address infrastructure needs as well, developing smaller airports to allow flights between smaller towns and cities in a shift away from the traditional hub-and-spoke airport model. “You need to really understand what is needed at the airports as well,” explained Anne Larilahti, head of sustainability at Finnair. “You can’t expand faster than the available infrastructure that supports these airplanes.” Charging points will be required at every airport where an electric aircraft takes off and lands. While Heart Aerospace believes ground crews could fully charge the ES-19’s batteries 1,000 times over their lifetime, the airplanes would need charging every time they land. “It makes sense to have a standard [for charging],” said Larilahti. “How much easier is life now that we have USB?” Finally, Larilahti pointed out that the cold weather in the Nordic region makes it the perfect place to pioneer electric aviation technology. “Our cold climate has an impact on batteries and operating a light airplane,” she said. “If we know how to do it here, it’s easier to do it elsewhere.” https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2021-03-26/finnair-plans-electrify-fleet-heart-es-19-aircraft Air Force Trying To Attract Civilian Pilots The Air Force is turning the tables on the aviation industry and is trying to attract trained civilian pilots into its corps. The Air Force is looking at two pathways to bring in pilots whose flying skills and general abilities will let them bypass some of the military training that all new Air Force officers go through. “Somebody who is exceptional and extremely well qualified might be able to bypass undergraduate pilot training altogether. We would put those folks through an Air Force fundamentals course … to bring them up to speed on Air Force differences, teach them how we fly, teach them the things that they need to know to make a difference,” Maj. Gen Craig Wills told Stars and Stripes . It’s also looking at working with colleges and universities that offer undergraduate aviation programs and include some military-style curriculum so that when they graduate they can skip some of the Air Force training if they decide to join up. The Air Force is short pilots now and is training about 250 fewer than the 1500 a year it has set as a goal and attracting some from civvy street might be a partial answer. “Potentially, we could have an opportunity where we have added to the number of pilots at a relatively low-cost point,” Wills said. “Obviously, the number one thing is the quality of the training and the standard of these officers. That’s non-negotiable.” The Air Force is also trying to get more diversity in its cockpits, which are now occupied overwhelmingly (more than 80 percent) by white males. There is, of course, more to being an Air Force pilot than being a great pilot.“The most important thing on that program is you still have to be willing to fight and kill and potentially die for your country to serve as an Air Force officer. And that’s a pretty big lift,” Wills said. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/air-force-trying-to-attract-civilian-pilots/ Southwest Airlines adds 100 orders for Boeing 737 MAX jet (Reuters) - U.S. budget carrier Southwest Airlines Co said on Monday it had reached a deal with planemaker Boeing Co for 100 orders for a variant of the 737 MAX aircraft, with the first 30 jets scheduled for delivery in 2022. The development comes days after Reuters reported here that Boeing was close to a multibillion-dollar deal to sell dozens of its 737 MAX 7 jets to Southwest, in potentially the jet maker's largest 737 MAX order since the aircraft's safety ban was lifted in 2020 end. Each 737 MAX 7 carries a list price of roughly $100 million, though such jets usually sell for less than half their official value with typical market discounts, according to aircraft industry sources. Southwest said it had converted 70 orders for the 737 MAX 8 aircraft to 737 MAX 7 orders, with an additional 155 optional orders for 737 MAX 7 or 737 MAX 8 planes for 2022 through 2029. The changes in Southwest’s order book result in a total of 349 orders and 270 options for the 737 MAX jet for 2021 through 2031, compared with a previous 249 orders and 115 options for the 737 MAX aircraft for 2021 through 2026. https://www.reuters.com/article/southwest-boeing-orders/update-1-southwest-airlines-adds-100-orders-for-boeing-737-max-jet-idUSL4N2LR2JD The F-35 may be unsalvageable The 2021 reviews of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) are in, and they are not glowing. On Jan. 14, 2021, then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller labeled the JSF a “piece of [expletive].” Then, on March 5, 2021, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) called the program a “rathole,” and asked whether it was time to stop spending that much money for “such a low capability?” The JSF has become the embodiment of the Defense Department’s (DOD) broken weapons acquisition system, which has been on the Government Accountability Office’s High-Risk List since 1990. The F-35 was originally conceived as the low-end of a high-low strategy consisting of numerous cheap aircraft that would replace Cold War workhorses like the F-16 and A-10, among other aircraft. The plan was for the JSF to be complimented by a smaller fleet of more advanced fighters, to be developed later. The program has been under continuous development since the contract was awarded in 2001 and has faced innumerable delays and cost overruns. Total acquisition costs now exceed $428 billion, nearly double the initial estimate of $233 billion, with projected lifetime operations and maintenance costs of $1.727 trillion. On April 26, 2016, then-Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) called the JSF program “both a scandal and a tragedy with respect to cost, schedule and performance.” In February 2014, Frank Kendall, then-under secretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, referred to the purchase of the F-35 as “acquisition malpractice,” a description that has yet to be improved upon. The JSF has been plagued by a staggering array of persistent issues, many of which were highlighted in the fiscal 2019 DOD Operational Test and Evaluation Annual Report, which revealed 873 unresolved deficiencies including 13 Category 1 items, involving the most serious flaws that could endanger crew and aircraft. While this is an overall reduction from the 917 unresolved deficiencies and 15 Category 1 items found in September 2018, the report stated that “although the program is working to fix deficiencies, new discoveries are still being made, resulting in only a minor decrease in the overall number of deficiencies.” Many of the problems with the program can be traced to the decision to develop and procure the aircraft simultaneously. Whenever problems have been identified, contractors needed to go back and make changes to planes that were already assembled, adding to overall costs. Despite the abject failure of the JSF, the DOD is revisiting the high-low approach. According to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Brown, the F-35, intended to serve as a low-end utilitarian aircraft, is now a high-end sports car: “You don’t drive your Ferrari to work every day, you only drive it on Sundays.” On March 10, 2021, the Air Force accepted delivery of the first of 144 upgraded F-15EXs. Brown is targeting the fiscal 2023 budget request to fund an F-16 replacement. The old low end has become the new high end, and those F-16s and A-10s still need to be replaced. Although it has an extraordinarily poor track record, killing off the JSF entirely will prove difficult. According to a map showing the economic impact across the country on Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II website, the only states that do not have at least one supplier for the aircraft are Hawaii and North Dakota. This gives all but two representatives and four senators more than enough incentive to not only keep greasing the wheels, but also to add 32 earmarks for the JSF program, costing $10.6 billion, since fiscal 2001. There has also been significant investment in the program by NATO members and other allies. The best taxpayers can likely hope for, barring an uncharacteristic recalibration with reality from the Pentagon, is that the program gets significantly scaled back. The DOD is at an inflection point. The design by committee, Swiss Army knife approach has been a resounding failure. Moving forward, the Pentagon must avoid purchasing aircraft prior to completion of the design and development phases and reduce the red tape that has slowed down the process. In the interim, the time has come reduce the cost and scope of the F-35 program. https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/545040-the-f-35-may-be-unsalvageable Rolls-Royce looks to the future with start of UltraFan build LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - Rolls-Royce said it had started building its new greener UltraFan engine and aims to have the first demonstrator model completed by the end of the year, in what it hopes will be a boost to both it and the environment. The British company has been hit harder than most by the pandemic, with much of its income disappearing when airlines stopped flying, leaving it to post a record $5.6 billion underlying loss in 2020. Rolls believes a new engine will be needed by aircraft manufacturers, even if the date when either Airbus or Boeing develop a new jet has been pushed further into the future by the coronavirus crisis. It hopes the UltraFan, which it describes as the world's largest aero-engine, could deliver a 25% fuel efficiency improvement compared with the first generation of its Trent engine. It could be the basis for a new family of engines which power both narrowbody and widebody aircraft, and it expects the first test run of the engine to be conducted on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel, Rolls said. The company's current engines power widebody jets and not the single aisle jets which sell at higher volumes and are likely to recover from the pandemic more quickly. "It is arriving at a time when the world is seeking ever more sustainable ways to travel in a post-COVID 19 world," said Chris Cholerton, president of its civil aerospace arm. Some analysts have speculated that UltraFan, a geared gas turbine, could be overtaken by new low-carbon technologies. But Rolls said gas turbines would be the bedrock of long-haul aviation for many years, and UltraFan's efficiency would help the transition to more sustainable fuels which could be more expensive in the short term than traditional jet fuel. The engine's development has been supported by funding from institutions in Britain, Germany and the European Union. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/rolls-royce-looks-future-start-110954550.html NASA wants to help private space stations get off the ground NASA is taking more steps to support new commercial space stations in low Earth orbit. NASA is taking more steps to support new commercial space stations in low Earth orbit (LEO). NASA held an online industry briefing about"commercial LEO destinations" Tuesday (March 23) to solicit feedback on its plan to date, as the agency thinks about its next crewed exploration steps in near-Earth space. With the International Space Station (ISS) expected to retire as early as 2024 — or possibly in 2028, if the multinational partners agree — NASA wants to involve industry in a new generation of space stations. NASA is also considering having the ISS partners participate in a new commercial space station, although such negotiations are at an early stage given how novel the idea is. "ISS is an amazing system, but unfortunately it won't last forever; it could experience an unrecoverable anomaly at any time," Phil McAlister, director of commercial spaceflight development at NASA headquarters, said in Tuesday's briefing. "Pretty much any space initiative can take a while, and longer than you might hope, so we really do feel like the time to get started is now, when the ISS is still in good health and providing good capability across the board," he said. The agency's newly announced Commercial LEO Development program is expected to release the first draft announcement of proposals in April, with a final version following in May. The plan is to bring the proposed commercial space stations to the preliminary design review stage by the end of fiscal year 2025 — and for NASA to discuss potential customers and destinations for the orbiting facilities. (Fiscal year 2025 runs from Oct. 1, 2024 through Sept. 30, 2025.) "The way we see the transition [from ISS] is, we're not going to just turn off the lights one day," McAlister said. "We're going to have an overlap period where we, over a period of time, draw down the operations of ISS as we increase operations for LEO destinations. So that gives us some time." Bringing in private sector partners now will allow them to have "skin in the game" at this early stage, he added, especially with the incentive that they can retain their own intellectual property for other ventures. The program will start with two to four funded Space Act Agreements, which allow NASA to work with external entities on agency priorities. The agreements, expected to have a combined value of between $300 million and $400 million, should be awarded in the fourth quarter of 2021 to fund work starting in fiscal year 2022, which will be completed in fiscal year 2025. "We are doing our best to communicate our plans to our stakeholders in Congress and the administration, and we're hopeful that budget requests will be funded," McAlister said. The money the program requires can still be awarded in "various budget realities," although if NASA does not get its desired budget request for several fiscal years, "that does increase the risk of a gap," he added. Angela Hart, manager of the commercial LEO development program office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, said that using Space Act Agreements for the new commercial LEO initiative "does provide us with some flexibility" in case of uncertainty on the NASA budget side. Such agreements have fewer obligations than other contract vehicles, and this flexibility may be a necessity under NASA's budgetary realities when it comes to ISS successors. NASA had requested $150 million for commercial LEO development in both fiscal years 2020 and 2021 but only received $15 million and $17 million, respectively. The 2022 budget proposal will likely be made public in May. If all goes according to plan, NASA plans a second phase of the commercial LEO program in 2026 to certify commercial station activities and to figure out access for astronauts and payloads. But that is still in preliminary planning, NASA officials cautioned in the briefing, especially as the agency figures out how such activities would relate to ongoing ISS operations. While NASA would likely be the "anchor tenant" in a new commercial facility, Hart pointed to a need to expand economic opportunities for other space players. "We want to continue to lay the groundwork for a market environment where, commercially, services will be available to both government and private sector customers," she added. NASA expects that, after the ISS program concludes, the agency will want to have at least two crewmembers in Earth orbit most, if not all, of the time. That would be a slight decrease from the typical current maximum of three people on the U.S. side of the space station. These astronauts would continuously perform at least 200 science or research focused investigations a year — bearing in mind that other astronauts might be occupied on the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program, which is expected to ramp up later in the 2020s. McAlister said he hopes that transportation costs to orbit will come down under the new model. "We have to transport those crews to the International Space Station, and we have to keep them supplied with food and water and all the necessary supplies," he said of the current situation. "Going forward," he added, "commercial destinations that are focused on the actual demand for NASA will necessarily be smaller … If there is sufficient demand for something that is the size and capability of the ISS, we would expect the private sector to address that through their means." NASA has already pivoted ISS operations into a more commercial direction in recent years, including partnerships with companies to deliver cargo and astronauts on private spacecraft. For example, SpaceX has already launched two crewed ISS mission missions with its Crew Dragon capsule. Boeing also holds a NASA commercial crew contract but has been beset with delays in getting its Starliner capsule certified for human spaceflight. The ISS will also welcome its first all-private crew in 2022, if schedules hold. That mission, which is being organized by the private company Axiom Space, will fly aboard Crew Dragon. "We've been getting a lot of press these days about our private astronaut missions," McAlister said. "These are primarily tourism-based but also include outreach and commercial [research and development]." In 2019, NASA issued a call for proposals to add commercial modules to the ISS or build separate commercial stations, dubbed "free flyers." The solicitation was open enough to allow for a single new module or a set of modules, depending on the proposal. NASA issued a solicitation for a docking port and selected Axiom Space in January 2020. However, that August, the agency said it would not have the "free-flyer" solicitation, without offering further details, according to Space News. Hart spoke about the 2019 solicitation during Tuesday's briefing, saying in her slides that the pivot to the docking port was "more appropriate due to the current budget allocations and immature design maturation affecting data deliverables." https://www.space.com/nasa-commercial-space-stations-earth-orbit Curt Lewis