January 3, 2022 - No. 01 In This Issue : MC-21-300 Aircraft Receives Type Certificate from Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency : NASA selects University of Illinois team for aviation project : AT&T and Verizon reject request by US government to delay rollout of 5G over fears the next-generation wireless technology could interfere with aviation : Electra and Flyv Partner for On-Demand Air Mobility : Indonesia to Let 737 Max Fly Again : ROCKET MAN Meet gravity defying jet suit inventor Richard Browning who is dubbed the ‘real life Iron Man’ and can fly 85mph : Hanwha Aerospace selected to lead national task for developing UAM fuel cell system : Soaring Eagle Technologies racks up FAA BVLOS waivers : All In: Why Korean Air Became The First Major Carrier To Completely Switch To AWS Cloud : Rolls-Royce is building the world's largest airliner engine, the Trent Ultrafan : Musk Says SpaceX Could Land Humans on Mars in Just Five Years MC-21-300 Aircraft Receives Type Certificate from Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency The Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) has issued a Type Certificate for MC-21-300 passenger aircraft to Irkut Corporation (part of the United Aircraft Corporation of Rostec State Corporation). The Type Certificate confirms the MC-21-300 compliance with the certification requirements established for civil aircraft. At the same time, the Federal Air Transport Agency has issued the Design Organization Certificate to Irkut Corporation in relation to the MC-21 aircraft. “The issuance of a Type Certificate for MC passenger aircraft is the result of work carried out by the Federal Air Transport Agency, the Aviation Register of Russia and accredited certification centers. This is the first important stage in the development of the latest domestic aviation technology. The Federal Air Transport Agency is ready to continue work on expanding the operating conditions of the aircraft and optimizing the structures, including remotorization for the domestic PD-14 engine. "- said Alexander Neradko, head of the Federal Air Transport Agency. The MС-21-300 is a new generation medium-range aircraft with 163 to 211 seats. It is designed for the most popular segment of passenger air transportation and embodies the latest developments in aviation engineering. "The obtaining of the Type Certificate from the Federal Air Transport Agency is the most important event for the MC-21 project and the aviation industry. The document confirms that the aircraft is ready for mass production and sales. The aircraft is modern, beautiful, and literally world-class, with a large number of design innovations and the largest cabin among its peers. I'm sure both airlines and passengers will appreciate it," noted Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec State Corporation. The MC-21 is the world’s first mid-range aircraft to be fitted with composite wings. Composites make about 40%. "Actually, thanks to the MC-21, we have experienced a technological revolution in the Russian aircraft industry. New materials for the manufacture of the wing have been developed and produced. The design, production and testing of aggregates made of composites has been mastered. Advanced technologies of modular assembly production have been introduced. The participants in the MC-21 cooperation were united by an information environment that provides digital design and production. The aircraft is intended for the most popular market segment. In the next 20 years, Russia alone is forecasted to need 800+ new aircraft of this size. After proving the aircraft’s outstanding performance in the domestic market, we will go to the international market," said Yury Slyusar, director general of UAC. Since 2021, it is only domestic materials that are used to make wings of the MC-21-300 aircraft. The first Russian-made composite wing was installed on the MC-21-300 in July 2021. In December 2021, the first MC-21-300 with the Russian-made composite wings commenced the flight tests. “In 2022, we will focus our efforts on expanding the type certificate for the MC-21-300 aircraft. First of all, we will complete the certification of an aircraft with a wing made of Russian composite materials. We will also test the airliner in high altitude conditions, strong crosswinds, low and high temperatures. This will allow “Rossiya” Airlines to operate the MS-21-300 in any geographic zones," stated Andrey Boginsky, director general of Irkut Corporation. https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/commercial-airline/press-release/21251828/rostec-mc21300-aircraft-receives-type-certificate-from-russias-federal-air-transport-agency NASA selects University of Illinois team for aviation project NASA recently announced the teams of university faculty and students selected to help the agency's research focus on sustainable aviation through its University Leadership Initiative. One of the teams is from the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. ULI gives the academic community an opportunity to support NASA's aeronautical research goals and provide students with experience in solving real-world technical challenges. "Aviation of the future has to be climate friendly to keep the world flying, and a great way to do that is to allow tomorrow's top minds to begin making contributions to these goals while still in school," Koushik Datta, ULI project manager, said in a statement. Three of the four teams are working toward lowering or eliminating aircraft emissions, with each team approaching the problem from a slightly different perspective. The fourth team, U of I, is conducting autonomy research in support of NASA's Advanced Air Mobility campaign. Another ULI goal is for students to gain experience in leading a multidisciplinary team made up of partners from other universities and industries, including student populations who are underrepresented or have not applied their skills to aviation problems. "A diverse research team enables more voices to be heard, and more creative ideas to be explored," Datta said. A total of four teams were selected for final negotiations that could lead to awards of up to $31.5 million during the next five years. The University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign team will aim to deliver trustworthy autonomy tools to help Advanced Air Mobility aircraft fly safely through complex airspace, typical of dense urban environments. Other team members include Georgia Tech, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, North Carolina A&T State University, University of Nevada at Reno, Lockheed Martin and Sierre Nevada Corp. The three other teams and their research topics are: A team from the University of Central Florida, which will explore using liquid ammonia – a non-traditional source – as fuel for a jet engine and generating electricity from the engine's exhaust heat, reducing emissions, and saving on fuel. Team members include Georgia Tech, Purdue University, Boeing, GE Research, ANSYS, Southwest Research Institute and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. A team from Florida State University, which will consider how hybrid hydrogen-electric power generation could be combined with fuel cell technology to lower emissions. Team members include Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, University at Buffalo, University of Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Raytheon, Boeing and Advanced Magnet Lab. And a team from the Georgia Institute of Technology, which will turn its attention to sustainable aviation challenges related to a jet engine's combustor but in this case the engine is powering a commercial supersonic transport. Team members include Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Virginia Tech, Spelman College, Missouri University of Science and Technology, General Electric and Aerodyne Research Inc. This is the fifth time teams have been selected to participate in ULI. Six teams were selected earlier in 2021, five teams were chosen in 2020, three teams were announced in 2019, and five teams were selected for the inaugural initiative in 2017. https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/NASA-selects-University-of-Illinois-team-for-16746145.php AT&T and Verizon reject request by US government to delay rollout of 5G over fears the next-generation wireless technology could interfere with aviation A joint letter Sunday from the telecommunications giants to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Steve Dickson, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, sought to dismiss concerns brought by U.S. airlines that a new 5G wireless service could harm aviation. But Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon Communications, and John Stankey, CEO of AT&T, also wrote that they were willing to accept some temporary measures over the next six months to limit the service around certain airport runways. Airlines had asked the Federal Communications Commission to delay this week´s scheduled 5G rollout, saying the service, set to launch Wednesday, could interfere with electronics that pilots rely on. Airlines for America, a trade group for large U.S. passenger and cargo carriers, said in an emergency filing that the FCC has failed to adequately consider the harm that 5G service could do to the industry. The group wants more time for the FCC and the FAA, which regulates airlines, to resolve issues around aviation safety. Those are related to a type of 5G service that relies on chunks of radio spectrum called C-Band, which wireless carriers spent billions of dollars to buy up last year. Siding in part with airlines, Buttigieg and Dickson wrote late Friday to the CEOs of AT&T and Verizon to propose a delay in activating 5G C-band service near an undetermined number of 'priority airports' while the FAA studies the potential for interference with aircraft operations. AT&T and Verizon previously agreed to a one-month delay in 5G, which provides faster speeds when mobile devices connect to their networks and allows users to connect many devices to the internet without slowing it down. But the telecommunications executives said Sunday that further delays requested by the government would harm their customers. 'Agreeing to your proposal would not only be an unprecedented and unwarranted circumvention of the due process and checks and balances carefully crafted in the structure of our democracy, but an irresponsible abdication of the operating control required to deploy world-class and globally competitive communications networks that are every bit as essential to our country´s economic vitality, public safety and national interests as the airline industry,' the executives wrote. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10363737/AT-T-Verizon-reject-U-S-request-delay-5G-wireless-plans.html Electra and Flyv Partner for On-Demand Air Mobility Startup airline orders 100 hybrid-electric short take-off and landing aircraft for underserved regional European markets Electra.aero, a US-based clean aviation technology company, and Flyv, a German start-up airline specializing in on-demand air mobility, have partnered to employ a new generation of hybrid-electric aircraft in underserved regional travel markets in Europe. The ultra-short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) fixed-wing plane uses quiet distributed electric propulsion and sustainable flight technology to take off and land on spaces “as small as rooftops, parking lots and soccer fields,” according to the company website. The piloted plane delivers lower emissions and operating costs than conventional aircraft making on-demand regional air travel commercially feasible.. Batteries are recharged mid-flight, eliminating the need for ground charging infrastructure and enabling quick flight turnaround in diverse environments. The Flyv service is an airline focused on regional air mobility, initially operating between airports and eventually providing point-to-point intercity travel. In lieu of a traditional hub-and-spoke network, the Flyv scheduling platform uses a proprietary algorithm to optimize the daily flight schedule based on paid bookings and operational constraints. According to the company, customers will have a guaranteed fixed travel timeframe to their destination at the time of booking, and exact itinerary details prior to departure. “Traditional airlines are focused on capacity, not on demand,” explained Flyv CEO Anton Lutz. “The economics were a challenge with conventional aircraft. The cost-effectiveness of Electra’s high-performance eSTOL aircraft is the puzzle piece that makes the Flyv model work.” Under a Memorandum of Understanding, Flyv will be Electra’s air mobility services partner in Europe, and Electra will be Flyv’s OEM partner for regional air mobility services in Europe and elsewhere. The agreement includes a commitment by Flyv to purchase of up to 100 Electra eSTOL aircraft. “There is a gap in transportation services today between where ground transport is effective and where large transport aircraft are providing efficient service,” said John S. Langford, Founder and CEO of Electra.aero. “We designed Electra’s eSTOL aircraft to fill that gap, providing a more sustainable transport option than cars or traditional aircraft for short and medium distance routes up to about 500 miles.” The two companies say they will jointly explore urban and regional networks to be served by Flyv, and will collaborate on elements of eSTOL performance, economics, and passenger experience as well as joint marketing initiatives. The global urban and regional advanced air mobility market is forecast by Morgan Stanley at $1 trillion. Sustainable electric and hybrid-electric aircraft are set to be a key element in making the market feasible. Legacy carriers, including United Airlines and American Airlines, have announced significant investments in electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft and other alternate propulsion technology to serve urban air mobility and regional networks while meeting sustainability goals. https://www.businesstravelerusa.com/business-traveler-usa-story/electra-and-flyv-partner-for-on-demand-air-mobility/ Indonesia to Let 737 Max Fly Again JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia said Wednesday it is lifting its ban on Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft, three years after one crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff killing all 189 people on board. The Transportation Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that the aircraft will be permitted to fly in Indonesia, but only after airlines carry out airworthiness directives. The ministry will also conduct inspections before the aircraft are allowed to operate in the country, said Novie Riyanto, the ministry’s director general of Civil Aviation.. “Several flight operators have stated that they have carried out airworthiness orders for 737 MAX aircraft, in accordance with FAA provisions and will prepare training and simulators at the nearest facility, in Singapore,” Riyanto said. Governments grounded the Boeing 737 Max after a total of 346 people were killed in the crashes of the Lion Air flight in Indonesia on Oct. 29, 2018, and an Ethiopian Airlines flight on March 10, 2019. Investigators blamed a computer system that pushed the plane’s nose downward in flight and couldn’t be overridden by pilots. Boeing has carried out technical upgrades to fix such problems. Earlier this month, China became the last major market to approve the Boeing 737 Max after the United States allowed flights to resume in December 2020. European Union regulators gave permission in January. Brazil and Canada also have given approval. Anton Sahadi, whose 24-year-old cousins Muhammad Rafi Ardian and Rian Ariandi died in the 2018 crash, said that he regrets the government decision to let the 737 Max fly again. “The government has to ensure that the aircraft meets safety standards so that similar incidents don’t happen again," Sahadi said. “I do not see the urgency yet for Boeing’s 737 Max aircrafts to fly again in Indonesia. Families of victims still have not finished the process of resolving problems with Boeing,” he said. Sahadi was referring to complaints by some families of crash victims that a $2.5 billion settlement between Boeing and the U.S. Department of Justice excluded them from involvement in negotiating their compensation. https://www.mbtmag.com/home/news/21965534/indonesia-to-let-737-max-fly-again ROCKET MAN Meet gravity defying jet suit inventor Richard Browning who is dubbed the ‘real life Iron Man’ and can fly 85mph HE’S a double world record holder, ultramarathon runner and former Royal Marine Reservist - and he’s mates with Tom Cruise. But British daredevil inventor Richard Browning has taken his ambitions to new heights by creating a super-fast gravity defying jet suit which could save lives. The 41-year-old, dubbed the ‘real life Iron Man’, has turned human flight into a reality. His £340,000 suit, which has more horsepower than a Bugatti Veyron supercar, allows him to fly at speeds of up to 85mph and can reach an altitude of 12,000ft. And it seems the sky’s the limit. The technology could soon be worn by paramedics, who are being trained as we speak, allowing them to fly to rescue injured hikers stuck on the top of Britain’s mountains. It means emergency crews could reach the summit of peaks such as Bowfell in the Lake District in just 90 seconds, rather than 25 minutes on foot - which could be the difference between life and death. Richard, founder and chief test pilot at Gravity Industries, said: “The jet suit allows you to fly and move in a completely free, three dimensional manner, almost like a superhero. “We are just scratching the surface in terms of what is possible to achieve with our technology.” The Great North Air Ambulance Service, which responds to more than 1,500 callouts a year, described the potentially life-saving invention as “awesome”. And it may not be too long before top movie makers realise the potential of Richard’s invention and we see James Bond or Mission Impossible agent Ethan Hunt taking flight. But Richard didn’t set out to revolutionise human transport or be a Hollywood hero. Instead his “crazy idea” four years ago “simply got a bit out of hand”. For 16 years Richard worked as an oil trader in London but packed it in to pursue his dream of being airborne. He said: “I had a perfectly good career in Canary Wharf and honestly just embarked on this for fun. “We didn’t believe we were going to create some sort of mainstream form of transport. And we definitely didn’t set out to build an Iron Man suit. “It was more about adding just the right amount of horsepower to the human mind and body, without aid or computers. “It sounds ridiculous and yet it ended up working way better than we had imagined. “There was genuinely no business rationale behind it, just the joy and challenge of it.” 'COMPLETELY FREE' The suit is powered by jet fuel or road diesel which, through its five engines, provides enough thrust to lift a human off the ground. It is then controlled by altering the direction of your arms - known as vectoring. It might sound complicated, but but Richard compares his futuristic-looking invention to a classic bicycle. He said: “When you’re wearing the jet suit you’re not sitting in a seat with a control system and computer - you are sort of on a bicycle in the sky. “Bicycles don’t do much at all by themselves but add a human in to do the work and look at the results. Pretty amazing. “It is the most raw, authentic, minimalist form of human flight available - or ever.” He says the feeling of flying through the air is almost impossible to describe. The closest analogy he can think of is “the dream of flying we often have as kids but also as adults”. The dad-of-two added: “It is just like that, believe it or not. You’re completely free. “You’re running along and you step off the ground and keep going, flying and floating, and you can go wherever you like. “It really does look like CGI in a film.” Richard was inspired by his time spent pushing his body to its limit as a Royal Marines Reserve and ultramarathon runner. But aviation is in his blood. His grandfather was Sir Basil Blackwell who ran Westland Helicopters, while his father was a maverick inventor, designer and aeronautical engineer. It meant Richard spent much of his childhood dreaming up ideas and building things in his dad's workshop. He said: “My father very much inspires what I do today. My passion for aviation, physics, design and creating whatever it is - I definitely inherited that. “And my physical exploits taught me a lot about human capability. If you connect that back up with my family heritage, then it led me down the road of thinking, well could you not use the human mind and body to tackle the challenge of flying in an entirely different way?” When Richard was just 15 his father took his own life, leaving behind “a lot of unfulfilled ambition”. He said: “I do feel I went on this journey and in a way, by embarking on this journey and taking on a slightly audacious challenge and trying to get that over the line, I’m reliving some of his aspiration.” Fuelled by his father’s enterprise, Richard’s list of achievements rocketed. He has trained huge number of clients to fly unaided and has flown in 31 countries. He smashed his own Guinness World Record for the fastest speed in a jet suit when he whizzed alongside Brighton Pier at 85.06mph in November 2019 - well surpassing his previous 32.02mph. His top speed caught the attention of aspiring aviators across the globe. Survival guru Bear Grylls and actor turned stuntman Tom Cruise are both in Richard’s contacts list, along with a host of other “LA Hollywood folk”. He is even in talks to feature the jet suit in a future Mission Impossible film. And anyone can get their hands on one - although it will cost you. To date, he has sold two jet suits for £340,000 each, both looked after by Richard himself. He said: “It’s a bit like a Formula 1 car. No-one really buys F1 cars, it’s not really what they’re meant for. “But a couple of our clients were keen to own their own suits so we look after them rather than let them disappear off around the world.” Despite looking like something out of Transformers, Richard claims it is remarkably simple to learn to fly in the jet suit. Novice flyers are clipped into a tether so they can “practice in their own time knowing they can’t fall over”. He compared it to watching a child learn to ride a bike; some are soaring within a few minutes, others take several months. Richard, who lives with his wife and two sons in Sailsbury, Wiltshire, has even got his teenage son Oliver learning to fly and reckons he will “have him flying freely in no time ”. The entrepreneur said swapping his smart suit for a jet suit was a “real challenge” - but luckily his family were very supportive. He added: “It is quite a change of scenery from commuting into London every day and running a trading book. “It’s a challenge setting up any new start-up. But my family had faith in me that the idea was worth pursuing and they can see the results now.” And although Richard doesn’t see his jet suits replacing Uber any time soon, he does see a bright future for aviation technology. He said: “Someone soon is going to crack the autonomous electric drone type thing. “I’m sure we will be able to click a button to say we want to go from A to B and it will just hover over a designated spot and autonomously take you to where you want to go. “We will get there at some point but there is a lot of regulation to overcome first. The technology is there, but it’s the legislation. “It just takes one to drop into a school full of children and then the whole thing will get shut down. It is very hard to make something completely failsafe.” For now, he plans to focus on his international race series, which sees pilots go head-to-head to fly across lakes, rivers and seafronts, as well as his life-saving search and rescue missions and military collaborations. https://www.the-sun.com/tech/4385827/jet-suit-richard-browning-real-life-iron-man/ Hanwha Aerospace selected to lead national task for developing UAM fuel cell system SEOUL -- Hanwha Aerospace, an aircraft parts maker in South Korea, has been selected to lead a national task for the development of a hydrogen fuel cell system that would be used for urban air mobility. The company aims to secure core technologies by improving performance and reducing system weight by 2025 by forming a consortium with domestic companies and research institutes. Hanwha Aerospace said that it has been selected by the state-run Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning to lead the development of a fuel cell system for urban air mobility (UAM), an ecosystem involving flying passenger vehicles in urban areas, in a four-year project that would cost some 21 billion won ($17 million). The range of multi-copter drones is limited due to their relatively short battery life. Hydrogen fuel cell drones with an extended flight time could become a game-changer in the global market for unmanned flying systems. Hanwha Aerospace showed confidence, citing its abundant development experience and advanced technology accumulated through its aircraft engine parts business. "Through the success of this project, we will secure core technologies for UAM's electric propulsion system and expand our business to small and medium-sized aircraft electric propulsion systems in the long term," an unnamed Hanwha Aerospace official said in a statement on January 3. Hydrogen fuel cells have high energy density, which can significantly increase the operating time and distance of UAM. For aviation, fuel cells must be light and maintain stable high power during flight. Hanwha Aerospace is a sister company of Hanwha Systems, which is trying to develop an electric propulsion system for personal air vehicles as a key member of UAM Team Korea, a public-private consultative body that aims to commercialize drone taxis in 2025. In December 2021, a consortium led by Hanwha Aerospace tied up with the state-run Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement (KRIT) to develop core technologies for a 1,000-horsepower turboshaft engine used to drive the rotary wings of helicopters. It is part of a military project to develop an unmanned compound combat rotorcraft (UCCR). Equipped with capabilities such as vertical take-off and landing, hovering, and high-speed flights, UCCR can fly faster and longer than conventional helicopters and effectively carry out reconnaissance and attack missions. Related technologies can be used for hybrid-electric propulsion aircraft that apply a turboshaft engine to advanced air mobility (AAM). AAM's potential applications could extend beyond high-density urban centers to reach underserved communities and geographically distant regions. https://www.ajudaily.com/view/20220103160459927 Soaring Eagle Technologies racks up FAA BVLOS waivers Drone data collection company Soaring Eagle Technologies is getting close to operating beyond line of visual sight (BVLOS) missions as a regular way of doing work. Late in December, the inspection service provider to critical infrastructure owners across the US received yet another Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) waiver to fly such missions, pushing its total to over 60. Houston-based Soaring Eagle Technology said it had received another special government interest waiver from the FAA for a BVLOS flight in late December, its second in less than two months. That will push the company’s tally of such flights to over 60, which it says exceeds those obtained by any other competitor. In November Soaring Eagle used its previous authorization to perform a 51-mile BVLOS inspection of a major energy client’s infrastructure in just six hours – equipment packing and the drive back to headquarters included. Soaring Eagle is making both the quality of its BVLOS inspections and mapping services, and its success in obtaining FAA authorization for those flights a major selling point to existing and potential customers. Among its total beyond-sight waivers are 17 granted under emergency conditions to enable swift and precise infrastructure auditing in the wake of hurricanes, fires, or other extreme weather events. “(Soaring Eagle) is now positioned to safely perform BVLOS operations as a ‘normal’ daily mission,” said company president Will Padden. “This FAA waiver allows Soaring Eagle to collect information more thoroughly and efficiently. That means there is a tremendous demand for this service, especially among utilities and (companies) managing other key infrastructure throughout the country.” All types of drone inspection missions combined, the Soaring Eagle says it has over 30,000 UAV flying hours inspecting more than 10,000 electrical infrastructure assets, among other sites. The company says its drones can examine and collect data of up to 100 miles of transmission lines per day in BVLOS mode, at over 50% savings to clients compared to usual small aircraft or road methods. “The drone inspection option is also cleaner and safer than the fossil fuel alternatives such as helicopters and ground patrols,” notes Nathan Alber, Soaring Eagle’s training director, who added the minority- and US Army veteran-owned company offers other cultural advantages to customers as well. “Safety and data security are a paramount focus for our company. Our army training and experience piloting manned aircraft are key factors that contributed to the FAA’s decision to award Soaring Eagle this latest waiver.” For his part, Padden believes Soaring Eagle’s momentum in obtaining FAA waivers, and the increasing demand for such missions in the wake of storms and wildfires, gives his company and clients a clear advantage as BVLOS missions start becoming a meow routine part of drone activity. “It won’t be long before we have aircraft in our fleet that are capable of not only safe and efficient BVLOS operations, but in conjunction with 4G and 5G data networks, we’ll be able to launch and pilot our aircraft from thousands of miles away if needed,” Padden says. “This means our response time for natural disasters or other incidents involving critical infrastructure would be cut from hours to minutes – saving our customers downtime, money, and possibly lives.” https://dronedj.com/2022/01/03/soaring-eagle-technologies-racks-up-faa-bvlos-waivers/ All In: Why Korean Air Became The First Major Carrier To Completely Switch To AWS Cloud In September 2021, Korean Air proudly announced that it became the first major global operator to take a total leap to Amazon Web Services (AWS). The move had been in the works for three years, but the flag carrier of South Korea made the cloud migration jump to give itself an edge in the new climate. Following the shift, Simple Flying caught up with the airline’s CMO & CIO, Kenneth Chang, about the benefits of the move. No half measures AWS provides on-demand cloud computing platforms to major companies all across the globe. The brand prides itself on offering the most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. Korean Air highlights that it completed the all-in AWS migration to take advantage of the cloud capabilities and strengthen innovation in order to improve the overall customer experience. Korean Air was the very first conglomerate in Korea to bring in computerized systems, introducing a punch card system back in the early 1970s. The Hanjin Group-owned airline then became the first in the country to outsource its data center to a professional service, partnering with IBM in 1997. However, the company got used to working with one specific technology for two decades following the IBM alliance. In reality, private data centers have many issues, including challenges with security, latency, expansions, and stability. A joint vision The introduction of smartphones changed the way customers behave and consume content. Ultimately, the revolution rapidly made existing data technology outdated. Chang joined Korean Air five years ago, and as the innovator liaised with other company members on certain projects, he and his team determined it was time for a change. “When I joined the company, I was luckily enough that our CEO had a vision of being very customer-centric, with a higher goal of being the most loved airline in the world. So, when I looked at the infrastructure, we just didn’t have the mechanism to quickly roll out any kind of new services or even try to understand customer behaviors because the monolithic architectures were just too old. They’re good for sustaining the application, but nothing beyond that,” Chang told Simple Flying. “So, in 2017, our CEO, who is very IT savvy, gave us that vision. We then had a lot of conversations and decided it was time we need to start moving out of our old comfort zone and move into the newest technology possible. Before that, there was a minor journey of our passenger PSS ticketing system, which went to Amadeus’ cloud. Our cargo went to a company called IBS, with their cloud system. So, we did understand how the cloud brought in benefits. Therefore, we made the decision to take everything, decommission our data center, and move it all into AWS.” Passenger focus Chang explains that with the company becoming more customer-centric, it needs to understand how customers behave. In practice, the firm wants to know passenger buying patterns better. Factors such as why they chose Korean Air over other airlines, their particular travel requirements, and accommodation requirements need to be looked at. Altogether, there are numerous sets of data out there, and Korean Air doesn’t just want to look at price aspects. For instance, if a passenger flies business three times a year, they may be seeking comfort over price. Korean Air seeks to understand what special services the customer prefers on business compared to traveling on a leisure ticket. The old infrastructure was not able to quickly pass this information to decision-makers to analyze. Making the most of it AWS’ cloud has three strategies. Software as a service, platform as a service, and infrastructure as a service. Notably, Korean Air leverages all three for the team to make better-informed decisions. The airline is then able to swiftly communicate with passengers and offer raised levels of service. “Moving forward, we’re trying to create additional services and ancillaries for our customers, and just understanding what would give them more comfort to make sure they’re going to be taken care of when they fly with us. A lot of people say, ‘how does that work by changing our infrastructure?’ It’s not just changing infrastructure when you migrate to AWS or any other cloud service. You really have to rebuild your application,” Chang added. “We just didn’t do a lift and shift. We actually went and replatformed, rebuilt, and redeveloped. So, customers will be able to see the benefits of that. Importantly, our new .com and mobile app were introduced a year ago. They are more user-friendly now. With information coming from there, we will be able to build enough data for us to actually provide a very personalized level of service to our loyal customers.” The carrier is undoubtedly ensuring that it is making the most out of modern technology. While we have reported on several front-facing overhauls over the last year amid new travel conditions, such as touchless check-in and biometric boarding, there are critical updates occurring in the background. With the airline industry going through major transitions in every department, maximizing cloud opportunities will go a long way for Korean Air and its passengers. We can expect cloud technology to further its presence across the aviation spectrum this decade. https://simpleflying.com/korean-air-aws/ Rolls-Royce is building the world's largest airliner engine, the Trent Ultrafan Buried deep inside the Rolls-Royce plant at Filton in Bristol is a bare brick room where the Olympus engines that powered Concorde and the Pegasus fans for the Harrier jump jet were put through their paces. Now it is testing a generator the size of a washing machine drum designed to burn green fuels and produce enough electricity to power the passenger planes of the future. The challenge is to radically reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced by aviation. While carmakers and other industries can move at speed, the problem for planes is neatly summarised by Rolls-Royce's chief project engineer, Adam Newman. "If your hybrid Jaguar needs to pull over to the roadside, that's one thing, but things like that can't happen at altitude." Rolls-Royce plans to get around these issues by introducing more efficient jet engines for the next generation of passenger planes to cut the amount of carbon released per passenger per mile. Its next model, the UltraFan, will be 25 per cent more fuel efficient than its 1990s-era predecessor. It does so by being very big - its diameter is slightly smaller than that of a London Underground tunnel - and shifting more air through a larger fan, improving efficiency. Theoretically another 20 per cent to 30 per cent of fuel efficiency can be squeezed out of the turbofan jet engine design, says Alan Newby, director of aerospace technology and future programmes, although size limits and high temperatures make that ever more challenging. While aviation accounts for about 2.5 per cent of carbon emissions, flying is still limited to a relatively small proportion of the global population and the industry is under pressure to move towards zero emissions by 2050. Step two is to move to greener fuels for existing engines. These will start as biofuels, but to make them greener synthetic fuels will be used. "E-fuels" will be made using electricity from renewable sources to generate hydrogen, which will itself be bonded to carbon dioxide to produce aviation fuel. This fuel can be used in engines with a few modifications, mainly ensuring the seals still work, and Rolls hopes to have both existing and new engines using these latest fuels by 2030. As well as recycling carbon dioxide, the synthetic fuel produces fewer particles that are blamed for helping warm the Earth. Along the way, airlines will seek to make shorter, more efficient routes rather than the dog-leg path they sometimes take today, and to reduce contrails, considered another warming factor as the soot combines with ice to retain heat from the planet. The third step is the new technology the company is now developing, including its new generator. Strapped to a jet engine it can supply more than 800 amps of current at 3,000 volts AC, hence the inches-thick cables. The idea is to act as a stepping stone technology, much like the hybrid of the car world. Rolls envisions a plug-in electric plane that can operate on battery power for some of the journey and then turn to fuel for the rest. As with cars, the sheer weight of batteries poses a challenge for aviation. And for a machine aiming to defeat gravity, this is a problem neatly summed up by Newby. "If I take kerosene as my reference point, weight for weight, hydrogen is three times better, batteries are 60 times worse," he says. "That's the challenge for batteries." To put that in context, a long-range plane such as an A380 might have about a third of its weight taken up by kerosene-based jet fuel. "Fundamentally that's the challenge. So that's why you will see all electric solutions at a smaller, shorter range at the moment. But what you can do is enhance that with some kind of hybrid solution." For smaller craft, including helicopter-style taxis, batteries are an option, especially as new chemical mixes are developed and the amount of power per pound of weight increases. Rolls-Royce's single-seat battery-powered plane reached a top speed of 622 km/h in tests last month, making it the world's fastest all-electric vehicle. The Spirit of Innovation averaged 555 km/h over three kilometres, beating the existing record by 212 km/h. The aircraft was powered by a 400kW motor with a battery pack that Rolls-Royce says has the best power density of any used in aviation. Breaking the record was very exciting, says Newby, "but for us, the attraction of that is learning how to integrate electrical motors and batteries, in particular, the thermal management of batteries" - that remains a big challenge. The company is building on innovations like these to find quick solutions to each category of flight. Back in the test centre at Bristol, the shiny metal generator is being put through its paces to ensure it meets the technical and safety demands of powering an aircraft carrying dozens of people. Connected to an Allison 2100 turboprop engine, its performance is monitored from a room behind the test bed, gathering up to 2 million pieces of data per second as it scrutinises information on heat and vibrations. Rolls made four of the machines as prototypes, taking three of them to pieces, one of which was tested "destructively", says Newman, in a bid to fully understand the generator. It plans for the hybrid to be made available for commuter and regional planes that seat up to 50 passengers. As for hydrogen, storing the gas, keeping components cool and gathering enough of the stuff are all challenges that can be overcome in the long term. The gas is seen as an attractive alternative because when burnt efficiently it produces only water as a by-product. Used in high-temperature environments like a jet engine, it can produce nitrogen dioxide, another gas policymakers want cut because it is linked to damage in lung health. Companies such as ZeroAvia in Britain are developing hydrogen-driven smaller aircraft using fuel cells to generate electricity. But for Rolls-Royce, hybrids and greener fuels will be the stepping stone. The biggest planes such as the Boeing 777 that have two aisles, will be a tougher nut to crack, says Newby. "Particularly in the near term, and almost certainly for the foreseeable future, for wide-bodies, you will need sustainable aviation fuel." As well as acting as a range extender, the hybrid design gives aircraft designers many options. They can have more rotors driven by the same power plant, as splitting off cables for electric motors is far easier and lighter than installing gears to distribute mechanical power. The generator can also be used to give the plane an acceleration boost when needed. The unit could even be used alone with no batteries if a fuel is developed that is zero-carbon "We don't quite know how these markets are going to develop," adds Newby. "But what we're trying to make sure is we've got the technology building blocks in place, so that when the markets develop, we're ready to respond." Renewables beginning to take off Aviation accounts for about 2.5 per cent of carbon emissions The industry is under pressure to reach zero emissions by 2050 Rolls has made four prototype generators Strapped to a jet engine the generator can supply more than 800 amps of current at 3,000 volts AC It plans for the generator to be part of a hybrid solution for commuter and regional planes that seat up to 50 passengers Rolls-Royce's single-seat battery-powered plane recently reached a top speed of 387 miles an hour https://www.traveller.com.au/rollsroyce-is-building-the-worlds-largest-airliner-engine-the-trent-ultrafan-h20v4t Musk Says SpaceX Could Land Humans on Mars in Just Five Years Humans walked on the moon half a century ago, and it looks like we’re heading back. NASA aims to send astronauts to the lunar surface in the coming decade with the Space Launch System (SLS) and SpaceX Starship HLS, but SpaceX’s Elon Musk has his sights set on a more distant target: Mars. He’s floated some very pie-in-the-sky timelines for sending people to Mars, but now he’s doubling down. In a recent interview, Musk said SpaceX will land the first humans on Mars in ten years, and that’s a worst-case scenario. It could be half as long if everything goes perfectly during upcoming Starship tests. Musk made this prediction on an episode of the Lex Fridman Podcast. The full conversation, which you can see below, is more than two and a half hours long. In it, the pair discuss Tesla self-driving technology, neural networks, memes, and of course, SpaceX. The conversation about Mars starts at around the 27-minute mark. In the past, Musk has speculated that colonization efforts could begin this decade, featuring a fleet of Starships that congregate in Earth orbit before heading off to Mars when the planets pass each other. Musk has backed off from that level of detail as Starship takes shape. While the vehicle has accomplished some truly impressive things, it’s hard to see how it could be sending dozens of people to the red planet inside of a decade when it has yet to even reach orbit. When asked about the timeline on the podcast, Musk responded with a very pregnant pause. About 20 seconds later he answered that ten years was the outside range. The best-case, he said, was a mere five years. Currently, NASA hopes to land Artemis 3 on the moon in 2025, but that timeline is looking suspect due to delays with the SLS and updated spacesuits. SpaceX is also just in the early stages of designing the Starship variant that will land the crew on the lunar surface. If those issues result in another Artemis delay, Musk’s proposed timeline could put people on Mars before the moon. That seems like a long shot, but it would be an incredible accomplishment and an indictment of traditional government contractors if it comes to pass. Getting Starship to Mars is primarily an engineering problem. The goal with this vehicle is to lower the cost per ton of reaching Mars to the point where a human presence is feasible. According to Musk, no amount of money will get you to Mars right now. In the past, Musk has cited 2026 as the year he believes SpaceX will land its first Martian astronauts, but a lot of things could go wrong between now and then. Starship still needs a lot of work, and the first-stage Super Heavy booster has yet to fly at all. Whether or not Musk is right about reaching Mars in five years, SpaceX is in the best position to give it a shot. https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/330094-musk-says-spacex-could-land-humans-on-mars-in-just-five-years Curt Lewis