March 28, 2022 - No. 21


In This Issue 
: Honeywell announces new accelerometer designed for aerospace and defense 
: Firefly Aerospace gets new backer as Ukrainian investor who helped rescue it from bankruptcy sells stake 
: CAS Proudly Hires Students From Local Colleges Working on Their Airframe & Powerplant Certificate 
: Lao Airlines and Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways Aim To Jointly Develop Maintenance Base In Laos 
: Extreme heat already disrupts air travel. With climate change, it's going to get worse 

 





Honeywell announces new accelerometer designed for aerospace and defense

The MV60 micro-electro-mechanical system also has potential uses for industrial and marine applications that require high-precision, navigation-grade accelerometers that are small, lightweight and require little power to operate.

PHOENIX - Honeywell has announced a new accelerometer - its MV60 micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) - which is designed for aerospace and defense but also has potential uses for industrial and marine applications that require high-precision, navigation-grade accelerometers that are small, lightweight and require little power to operate.

The MV60 measures the acceleration experienced by an object during movement. These types of high-accuracy sensors are mainly used in inertial measurement units and navigation systems deployed on land, air, and sea vehicles to measure velocity. Additionally, inertial systems provide key orientation information for drilling operations; precision pointing and altitude determination for vehicles; platform stabilization; and target location and surveying.

The Honeywell MV60 accelerometer features a compact footprint of only 1.2 square inches and has shock survivability of up to 5,000 g (g-force). It also offers bandwidth of greater than 300 Hz.

Accelerometers are critical elements of navigation systems, and Honeywell provides a portfolio of precision accelerometers that delivers reliable performance at affordable prices to meet customer needs. For more information, please visit https://www.honeywell.com/us/en. 

https://www.militaryaerospace.com/commercial-aerospace/article/14269970/honeywell-announces-new-accelerometer-designed-for-aerospace-and-defense


 




Firefly Aerospace gets new backer as Ukrainian investor who helped rescue it from bankruptcy sells stake

Cedar Park-based Firefly Aerospace Inc. this week said it has landed a $75 million series B funding round led by Florida-based private equity firm AE Industrial Partners LP.

The deal marks a new chapter for the space rocket and launch services company. Months ago, Ukrainian investor Max Polyakov said he had to sell his firm's stake in the company after national security concerns were raised by the Committee on Foreign Investment. Polyakov is the investor who largely rescued Firefly from bankruptcy a couple of years ago.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/inno/stories/fundings/2022/03/25/firefly-aerospace-75m-ae-industrial-partners.html


 


 




CAS Proudly Hires Students From Local Colleges Working on Their Airframe & Powerplant Certificate

Certified Aviation Services, "CAS" is proud to implement a new student apprenticeship program with San Bernardino Valley College "SBVC" and other local colleges in the area. SBVC's Aviation Maintenance Technician Degree is a 2-Year program where students receive their Airframe and Powerplant certificate. During their time in the program, CAS hires students to work on actual aircraft, engines, systems, panels, and more to complete 70 of their required student hours. This apprenticeship program allows student to receive real, on the job training under experienced, licensed mechanics. This benefits the students during their studies, as they are hired and paid as regular employees, CAS works around their school schedules, and they are kept on as employees after they graduate the program.

CAS met with the Dean of the Program, Vanessa Thomas, and her colleague Kenneth Wilkerson to show them the CAS facility at the San Bernardino Airport and present the program to the San Bernardino International Airport Authority Board to give awareness to what CAS is offering the community in professional development. CAS is also proud to donate materials and supplies to the school for educational purposes, reducing waste and keeping with their sustainability mission.

"CAS is continually looking to create concrete ways to develop and grow talent for its future growth needs. I am delighted that we have been able to successfully partner with San Bernardino Valley College to help young aspiring aviation professionals to gain a foothold in the industry. By combining their studies with real-life paid work, the students are accelerating access to their dream jobs. Following the training period, CAS expects to place all apprentices into one of their wide ranges of MRO activities." - CAS President of Commercial, Paul Oliver

https://www.aviationpros.com/education-training/a&p-ia-training/press-release/21261924/certified-aviation-services-llc-cas-proudly-hires-students-from-local-colleges-working-on-their-airframe-powerplant-certificate


 




Lao Airlines and Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways Aim To Jointly Develop Maintenance Base In Laos

Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways is exploring with flag carrier Lao Airlines the possibility of having a hangar in Laos to provide maintenance services.

Bamboo Airways says in a statement it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Lao Airlines to establish a maintenance base – at Vientiane’s Wattay International Airport – including a hangar.

Bamboo Airways says the maintenance base will do repairs, airframe C-checks and unscheduled maintenance for Bamboo Airways’ Airbus A320s and A321s, as well as provide line maintenance for Bamboo Airways’ flights from Vietnam to Laos.

The maintenance base and hangar will also serve Lao Airlines’ fleet and provide training for maintenance personnel, it adds.

Huong Tran Kieu Dung, vice president of Bamboo Airways, says he hopes the new hangar can also service other international airlines. 

Dung tells Vietnamese media outlet VNMedia the airline intends to launch 40 routes this year.

Smart Aviation Asia Pacific previously reported that Bamboo Airways transported 2.5 million passengers last year. 

According to information online, Bamboo Airways’ fleet includes: Airbus A319s, A320s, A321s, Boeing 787s, Embraer 190s and Embraer 195s.

http://www.smartaviation-apac.com/2022/03/lao-airlines-and-vietnams-bamboo-airways-aim-to-jointly-develop-maintenance-base-in-laos/


 




Extreme heat already disrupts air travel. With climate change, it's going to get worse

Although futuristic fiction, the scenes are rooted in reality. When temperatures sizzle, planes have trouble taking off and airports can shut down. It's already happening in the world's hottest places, and experts say it's becoming increasingly common elsewhere as a consequence of global warming.

"This is happening more, it's not an anomaly anymore," said Bijan Vasigh, a professor of airline finance and economics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

During the unprecedented Pacific Northwest heat dome in June, Alaska Airlines flights were delayed or canceled when temperatures on the tarmac neared 130 degrees in Seattle and Portland, the company said. Limits had to be placed on how long ramp employees could be outside before retreating to air-conditioned "cool down" vans.

In the summer of 2018, uncharacteristically high temperatures of 95.5 degrees at London City Airport in the United Kingdom meant some flights were too heavy to take off on its short runways. Some passengers had to be removed before the planes could lift off.

In 2017, temperatures neared 120 degrees in Phoenix and more than 60 flights were canceled over the course of three days because the safety calculations weren't calibrated for temperatures that high.

Extreme heat events are increasing in frequency and duration in the United States. In the 1960s there were an average of two per year. By the 2010s the average was six.

They're also lasting longer. The average heat wave in major U.S. urban areas is now four days long, a day longer than the 1960s, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The season for heat waves is now 47 days longer than it was 60 years ago.

Last month's United Nations report on climate change predicted even more intense heat waves to come.

That's why airlines, airplane manufacturers and airports are beginning to plan now for what this hotter future looks like, said Erica Fleishman, director of the Oregon State University Climate Change Research Institute in Corvallis.

Temperatures at Portland's airport reached an all-time high of 116 degrees in June. Forecasters called it a "once in 1,000 years event."

"Given the current level of greenhouse gas emissions," said Fleishman, "by late in the century, that will be an every 5- to 10-year event."

For now, however, extreme heat is not an issue for most airports on most days, said Robert Mann, president of the aviation industry consulting firm R.W. Mann. & Co. But long term, as some places begin to see "a meaningful number of days" where high temperatures disrupt regular operations, it's something airlines and aircraft manufacturers will have to grapple with, he said.

"You go from truly outlier cases to what may be 5% and then 10% and maybe even 20% of flights being impacted in some way at some airports," he said.

The ramifications of climate change on aviation can't be discussed without acknowledging aviation's impact on climate change, say experts. Airplanes account for about 2.1% of all carbon emissions, according to the Air Transport Action Group.

The Federal Aviation Administration released a climate action plan in November but change is slow. For short trips, electric aircraft are expected to enter the market sometime after 2026. For long-haul routes, jet fuel is the only reasonable power source for now.

"Aviation is a tough nut to crack," said Paul Williams, a professor of meteorology at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. "Planes are so heavy, it just takes a lot of energy to keep them in the air. Really, fossil fuels are the only way at the moment."

More heat equals less lift

Hot air makes it harder for planes to fly. Warm air expands and is less dense—it's why hot air balloons go up. It also means the air is thinner so it takes more power to get the lift that allows a plane to take off.

Under hot conditions, it takes more fuel, which is heavy, to lift the same amount of passengers and cargo. Researchers at Columbia University predict by 2050, there could be four times as many weight restriction days at the most at-risk airports in the United States.

Williams' research shows it's already happening. He studied 10 airports in Greece and found as temperatures rose over the past 30 years the maximum takeoff weight of planes decreased by about 8,800 pounds.

"That's equivalent to about 40 passengers in their luggage," he said.

To deal with more and hotter heat waves, U.S. airlines may have to take a page from practices in the Middle East, say experts. The easiest fix is moving long-haul summer flights to early morning or late evening when it's cooler. But that can play havoc with scheduling and require passengers to fly at inconvenient times.

Another option is to lengthen runways or move hubs to airports with longer runways so planes have the distance needed to reach takeoff speed.

"If an airplane at 90 degrees can take off on a 6,000-foot runway but needs 7,000 feet at 115 degrees, then it means they won't dispatch that airplane to that airfield," said Pat Anderson, a professor of aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle. "The takeoff distance just gets longer and the performance metrics get worse, and you may end up with a runway that's insufficient."

Other solutions include carrying fewer passengers or cargo when temperatures are high, shifting to lighter airplanes, or installing more efficient engines.

"The main thing we're going to rely on to get us out of this problem is going to be updating aircraft fleets to use lighter aircraft," Williams said.

Heat events are not dangerous to travelers, only costly for airlines, aviation experts emphasized. All pilots perform meticulous safety calculations before taking off, which take into account a plane's weight, the altitude of the airport and the outdoor temperature, said Shaun Wildey, a test pilot with Airbus.

It's also now possible to predict significant heat waves six to seven days out, giving more time for airlines to plan, said Dan DePodwin, director of forecast operations for AccuWeather.

"There is always a large margin of safety in operations," Wildey said.

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-extreme-disrupts-air-climate-worse.html


 

Curt Lewis