November 23, 2022 - No. 043 In This Issue : Aerospace Manufacturer Expanding In Texas : Pratt & Whitney and NASA are working on a $13.1 million synthetic-fueled super-engine program : SpaceX wins Air Force manufacturing research contract for hypersonic vehicle thermal shields : University Researchers Moving Electrified Aviation Forward with NASA : Antonov confirms design work on second An-225 Mriya already begun : Jet Engine Installed on NASA’s X-59 : Avro Vulcan XH558 “The Spirit Of Great Britain” : NEW PANEL REPLACEMENT OPTION FOR OLDER CESSNA 172 MODELS Aerospace Manufacturer Expanding In Texas Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing will create 400 new jobs with a 40,000-square-foot expansion of its Kerrville, TX facility. October 25, 2022 In Kerrville, TX, aerospace manufacturer Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing (KMM) is renovating a 40,000-square-foot building at Kerrville Airport Commerce Park. The company will invest $8 million to refurbish the facility, which will serve as a new home for KMM’s Texas operations. KMM has created 70 aerospace jobs in Kerrville since its arrival in December 2021, and plans to create another 400. A Tier 1 supplier, KMM also operates three locations in North Dakota, including its headquarters. KMM manufactures electronic components for the military and aerospace industries with such clients as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and the Department of Defense. “Our expansion into Texas helped KMM fuel our growth, not just for the Kerrville facility, but for our family of companies in North Dakota,” said Erika Bauer, KMM president of operations. “The excellent workforce, proximity to customers and exceptional support from various organizations and government agencies have made the Texas Hill Country the ideal second home for KMM.” Local and state leadership attended a Ceremonial Signing & Facility Commencement and autographed a steel beam to be installed in the facility at Kerrville Airport Commerce Park. From left to right: Kristin Hedger, KMM SVP of Government Relations; Joe Magruder, Office of the Texas Governor, Business Retention & Industry Specialist; Dan Hedger, KMM President of Marketing; Erica Bauer, KMM President of Operations; and KerrEDC Executive Director Gilberto Salinas. KMM is expected to generate more than $80 million in economic activity and more than $32 million in value-add to the Kerrville community over the next 20 years. In addition to the 400 direct jobs, the company will generate 68 indirect and 92 induced jobs. KMM is also expected to generate approximately $3.76 million in total sales tax revenue and $1.5 million in city and county tax revenues over the next 10 years. Kerrville’s aerospace sector is growing as leading aviation companies see considerable cost and workforce benefits, as well as its supply-chain network’s added value. Within a one-hour flight of Kerrville are more than 1,500 aircraft owners and operators, which is up to five times the same market breakdown for cities of comparable size to Kerrville. “We already see the economic impact KMM is having not only in our community but in this region. In addition to the jobs the company has created, there are local suppliers, vendors and small shops doing business with KMM,” said Kerr Economic Development Corporation (KerrEDC) Executive Director Gilberto Salinas. “It’s creating an entire aerospace ecosystem, which we expect to continue growing and becoming more intricate in the next five to 10 years.” Aerospace Manufacturer Expanding In Texas Pratt & Whitney and NASA are working on a $13.1 million synthetic-fueled super-engine program Here's What We Know The federal agency wants new turbofan engines that will be substantially superior to any existing units. The agency is investing $13.1 million in the development. Pratt & Whitney is to create a new aircraft engine design. The Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) project, on which work has been underway since last year, should help develop the new unit. It will be able to provide increased power to the unit while reducing fuel consumption. Manufacturers Honeywell and General Electric are participating in the program. tt & Whitney and NASA are working on a $13.1 million synthetic-fueled super-engine program AFRL is researching advanced manufacturing technologies for hypersonic air and space vehicles. WASHINGTON — The Air Force Research Laboratory awarded SpaceX an $8.5 million contract to investigate advanced materials and manufacturing techniques for heat shields that protect hypersonic vehicles in flight. Heat protection is a critical technology to shield hypersonic vehicles from the intense heat experienced when flying at more than five times the speed of sound. The contract was from the AFRL Materials and Manufacturing Directorate for a project called “multipurpose thermal protection systems for hypersonics.” An AFRL spokesman said this was a competitive program with multiple bidders. The contract was awarded in December but was made public Feb. 26. News of the award was first reported by @AviationWeek. “The objective is to refine thermal protection system manufacturing technologies to enable low-cost, high volume production of next generation thermal protection systems,” said the notice of the award. AFRL for years has been developing technologies in support of Defense Department, Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency hypersonic vehicle programs. AFRL is researching advanced manufacturing technologies such as additive manufacturing for hypersonic air and space vehicles. The lab will test these techniques for the production of heat protection materials that hypersonic vehicles need to fly in extreme environments like ballistic reentry. SpaceX has developed advanced heat shielding systems to protect the Dragon human spaceflight capsule and its next-generation Starship space exploration vehicle as they reenter the Earth’s atmosphere. SpaceX wins Air Force manufacturing research contract for hypersonic vehicle thermal shields University Researchers Moving Electrified Aviation Forward with NASA Illustrated here is CHEETA’s unique aircraft design prototype, which is built around the use of fuel cells. Hydrogen fuel is stored above the aircraft’s cabin in lightweight, thermally efficient cryogenic tanks, which also improve the aircraft’s lift distribution compared to current tube-and-wing aircraft configurations. Credits: Phillip Ansell, University of Illinois With support from NASA, university researchers have made advances towards developing advanced fuel cells and electricity-conducting technology to generate power for fully electric aircraft of the future. Hydrogen fuel cells, a clean energy source whose only emission is water, have yet to achieve use in powering large aircraft due to engineering challenges associated with weight, temperature, and electrical loads. Now, however, new research demonstrates there may be a way forward. CHEETA, or the Center for High-Efficiency Electrical Technologies for Aircraft, is working on developing new technology to incorporate fuel cells into aviation. This sustainable technology has the potential to make aviation more environmentally friendly by cutting carbon emissions out of the picture. Formed as part of NASA’s University Leadership Initiative (ULI), which seeks to involve university faculty and students in achieving NASA’s aeronautical research goals, CHEETA is a consortium of nine universities and two industry partners, led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Not only is CHEETA working on creating fully electric aircraft powered by fuel cells – it also is involving graduate, undergraduate, and even high school students in the research. Inclusion and involvement are key elements of NASA’s ULI activity. “We’re investigating different characteristics of how fuel cells operate as powerplants for future electric aircraft,” said Phillip Ansell, CHEETA’s director and assistant professor at UIUC. “It’s been amazing to have students involved in this cutting-edge work, and we’ve all been learning together.” CHEETA already has inspired proposals of some new research activities – two UIUC graduate students have completed master’s degrees under its first phase and are working on their doctorates. “The students are just so enamored with our work, which has been really cool to see,” Ansell said. Researchers affiliated with the Center for High-Efficiency Electrical Technologies for Aircraft (CHEETA) consortium pictured in 2020. With support from NASA, CHEETA is investigating the potential introduction of fuel cells and associated electrical technologies to power large electric aircraft. Credits: Peter Xiao, University of Illinois A Different Kind of Power Source Fuel cells generate electricity by combining oxygen from the air with hydrogen, with its only emission being water. That’s right – just water. “Hydrogen is a great energy carrier because there isn’t any carbon involved. These fuel cells can be configured to produce zero emissions. This is a cornerstone of what we want to accomplish with CHEETA,” Ansell said. However, there are challenges involved in applying this technology to aviation. A big one is that to remain an effective power source, hydrogen must be cooled down to its liquid state – a rather brisk minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 253 degrees Celsius). Storing this supercold, or cryogenic, liquid requires tanks that are heavier than those used to hold regular jet fuel, which has made it difficult for fuel cells from achieving widespread use in aviation. Another challenge is fuel cells must be able to generate enough electricity to power a large airplane, and then efficiently carry, or conduct, the electricity to the aircraft’s propulsion and power systems. In the past, powering an airliner the size of a Boeing 737, which must generate more than 20 megawatts of power to operate, was considered too challenging, but Ansell and his colleagues believe recent technological advancements have changed that. “We looked at the numbers and realized the state of the art is not far from an approach that works,” Ansell said. “There is a lot of potential.” Electricity in the Air CHEETA is taking the approach of designing a unique prototype airliner built around the use of fuel cells and the challenges associated with their use. Researchers also are developing brand new technologies to further improve their prototype airliner. “Since fuel cells are inherently different as a power source, the standard rules of aircraft design change drastically,” Ansell said. “We are looking to write the book on how you make this system work for an airplane.” And progress has been made. For instance, CHEETA partnered with GE Research to design a new type of lightweight hydrogen tank for use on an airliner. “We came up with a new lightweight tank designed to have the long life needed for airplanes that can also identify leaks and other issues. It could be turned into a practical product that enables hydrogen use in the future,” Ansell said. CHEETA also has worked on designs for new technology to handle massive electrical loads as well as manage the issues of heat and thermal management. “In collaboration with Boeing, we did some tests to see how fuel cells adjust when changing the power demand on them. We also did tests to see how changes in the way incoming air to the fuel cell is pressurized to improve net power production at high altitudes,” Ansell said. To help them achieve their goals further, CHEETA is in conversation with NASA researchers at the agency’s field centers where aeronautics work takes place. For example, the consortium has discussed aircraft configurations and the integration of propulsion components with experts at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia, as well as cryogenics and fuel with NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. “We’re very proud of the receptivity to our work at these higher levels. It’s been productive to exchange information and inputs on our shared goal of electrified aviation,” Ansell said. Having completed its first phase, which began in 2019, CHEETA is being extended for two additional years of study. Researchers plan to develop and demonstrate prototype technologies of electrical power systems, hydrogen storage systems, and a scaled aircraft concept. They are hopeful that positive results will lead to larger flight tests down the road. For the past five years, the ULI activity has invited university students and faculty to help solve real-world technical challenges in areas such as Advanced Air Mobility, Air Traffic Management, and more as part of NASA’s University Innovation project. NASA is currently in the process of selecting the sixth round of ULI awardees. John Gould Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Last Updated: Nov 9, 2022 Editor: Lillian Gipson University Researchers Moving Electrified Aviation Forward with NASA Antonov confirms design work on second An-225 Mriya already begun CLEMENT CHARPENTREAU The Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer Antonov Company confirmed that the design work to complete the second An-225 Mriya, the world’s largest aircraft, had already begun. “Currently, design works in this direction have begun,” the company said in a Facebook post. “According to available expert estimates, currently there are about 30% of components that can be used for the second model of the aircraft. The cost of building the aircraft is estimated at least 500 million euros. However, it is too early to talk about the specific amount.” The statement follows information revealed by Antonov General Director Eugene Gavrilov in the German newspaper Bild. During an interview at the company’s new base in Leipzig, Germany, Gavrilov said that the “work on the new aircraft is underway at a secret location,” and that some components salvaged from the wreckage of the original aircraft would be used. The beloved giant of the aviation industry The An-225 Mriya (which means ‘Dream’ in Ukrainian) was developed as part of the Soviet space program to transport the space shuttle Buran as well as large rocket components. It flew for the first time in 1988. With six engines and 42 tires, it could transport up to 640 tons, making it the most powerful aircraft ever created, and the largest operating. The aircraft was stored at Hostomel Airport, where Antonov Company is headquartered, when the Russian invasion started on February 24, 2022. Located in the vicinity of Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv, the airport was attacked on the first day of the invasion. The alleged goal of Russian paratroopers sent onto the site was to establish a bridgehead for more troops to be flown in. During the battle for Hostomel’s control, Mriya was critically damaged. A second unfinished airframe of the An-225, initially intended for ground testing, was stored at Hostomel. Its current location is unconfirmed. Antonov confirms design work on second An-225 Mriya already begun A GE Aviation F414-GE-100 engine is installed in NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft, at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. The 13-foot-long engine packs 22,000 pounds of propulsion energy and will power the X-59 to speeds up to Mach 1.4. Installation of the engine marks a major milestone as the X-59 nears assembly completion, taxi tests, and first flight. Credits: NASA/Carla Thomas Jet Engine Installed on NASA’s X-59 NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 now has the engine that will power it in flight. The installation of the F414-GE-100 engine took place at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, earlier this month, marking a major milestone as the X-59 approaches the completion of its assembly. The 13-foot-long engine from General Electric Aviation packs 22,000 pounds of propulsion energy and will power the X-59 as it flies at speeds up to Mach 1.4 and altitudes around 55,000 feet. “The engine installation is the culmination of years of design and planning by the NASA, Lockheed Martin, and General Electric Aviation teams,” said Ray Castner, NASA’s propulsion performance lead for the X-59. “I am both impressed with and proud of this combined team that’s spent the past few months developing the key procedures, which allowed for a smooth installation.” The X-59 team will follow the aircraft’s assembly with a series of ground tests and ultimately, first flight in 2023. NASA’s X-59 is the centerpiece of the agency’s Quesst mission. The aircraft is designed to reduce the sound of sonic booms, which occur when an aircraft flies at supersonic speeds, to a quiet sonic “thump.” This will be demonstrated when NASA flies the X-59 over communities around the U.S. starting in 2025, with the goal of providing the data necessary to open the future to commercial supersonic flight over land, greatly reducing flight times. Matt Kamlet NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Last Updated: Nov 14, 2022 Editor: Cody Lydon Jet Engine Installed on NASA’s X-59 By Airwolfhound from Hertfordshire, UK - Vulcan - RIAT 2015, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43338849 Avro Vulcan XH558 “The Spirit Of Great Britain” The iconic Vulcan XH558 strategic bomber will roar for the final time this week after a decision that the plane should be “put to sleep forever”. Anyone that wants to hear the Vulcan engine’s iconic “howl” for the last time has been invited to stand on a road outside of Doncaster Airport, where she will be easily audible. Avro Vulcan XH558 “The Spirit Of Great Britain” was the last remaining airworthy example of the 134 Avro Vulcan jet powered delta winged strategic nuclear bomber aircraft operated by the RAF during the Cold War. She was the last Vulcan in military service, and the last to fly at all after 1986. She last flew on Oct. 28, 2015, when she made her final ever flight to her current home at Doncaster Airport. Though there were plans for the plane to become an educational resource, with the potential closure of the airport she is based in, her future has become uncertain once again. According to GloucestershireLive, the old bomber plane became a crowd favourite at many airshows for her distinctive engine noise, called a howl by many. This loud piercing noise is made by the Vulcan when her intake is limited to 90 per cent before takeoff. ‘Time to cry because it’s ended.’ The Vulcan was the second of the Royal Air Force’s ‘V bombers’ and like the Valiant and Victor provided part of Great Britain’s nuclear deterrent force for fifteen years, until the Royal Navy’s Polaris submarines took over that responsibility in 1969, according to Royal Air Force Museum. The prototype B1 first flew on 30 August 1952; four years later work began on an improved B2 design. The increased performance offered by the Vulcan B2 made it ideal for modification to carry the Blue Steel nuclear stand-off bomb. This weapon allowed the aircraft to launch its attack from outside the immediate missile defences of a target and thereby extended the effectiveness of the Royal Air Force’s airborne deterrent. By 1966 Soviet missile defences had become so effective that Vulcans switched from high- to low-level penetration. In 1970, following their withdrawal from the nuclear deterrent, Vulcans switched to the conventional bomber role in support of NATO forces in Europe. The Vulcan’s range could be greatly increased by in-flight refuelling which was used to such good effect in the long range attacks on the Falkland Islands from Ascension Island in 1982. The last Vulcans retired from operational service in 1984. Photo credit: John5199 via Wikipedia Avro Vulcan XH558 “The Spirit Of Great Britain” NEW PANEL REPLACEMENT OPTION FOR OLDER CESSNA 172 MODELS SIX PACK AERO RECEIVES STC November 16, 2022 By Niki Britton Six Pack Aero, manufacturer of affordable custom stationary instrument panels for Cessnas, received a supplemental type certificate for the Legacy XL Stationary Panel. Lyle Jansma gives a tour of his Cessna 172 equipped with the Legacy XL Stationary Panel at the AOPA Hangout at Felts Field in Spokane, Washington, September 10, 2022. Photo by David Tulis. The replacement stationary panel is for Cessna 172 models E through M and allows for the installation of 10-inch primary flight display avionics. “Many Primary Flight Displays, commonly referred to as ‘glass cockpits,’ have been approved for all Cessna 172 models in 2 common sizes, 7-inch and 10-inch. In Cessna 172 models produced prior to late-1975, the 10-inch displays will not fit above the pilot side control yoke without modifying the structural stationary panel, which is considered a major modification,” Elizabeth Gibbs, business manager at Six Pack Aero, explained. “With the increase in affordable glass cockpit retrofit solutions for older aircraft, the Legacy XL Stationary Panel offers a solution to safely upgrade older aircraft not only for the avionics solutions of today but also for many years to come. ”It all began in 2018 when pilot and founder of Six Pack Aero Lyle Jansma and Gibbs sought to upgrade their 1971 Cessna 172L with flush-mount Garmin G5s in a six-pack, instead of the stock offset layout, and discovered they couldn’t put a six-pack in the L model. “We ended up keeping the offset layout and created a new aluminum instrument panel as an owner manufactured part,” Gibbs said. “Over the next couple years,” Gibbs continued, “we began to help other owners design instrument panel overlays as owner manufactured parts and started Six Pack Aero, and through this learned the limitations of all the models of 172. When a good friend of ours approached us wanting to know if he could put a [10-inch] G3X touch in his 1973 172M, Lyle came up with the idea of redesigning the stationary panel to accommodate [10-inch] PFDs or six-packs. After that proof of concept was successful, Lyle decided to pursue the STC.” Lyle Jansma's Cessna 172, equipped with the Legacy XL Stationary Panel at the AOPA Hangout at Felts Field in Spokane, Washington, September 10, 2022. Photo by David Tulis. The Legacy XL Stationary Panel will be available starting in January for purchase from Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co., at the introductory price of $6,950. For this price, buyers will receive: • STCed stationary panel assembly. • Five instrument panel modules (configured per buyer’s specifications). • Upper skin extension. • Molded Kydex glareshield. • Sirs Navigator pedestal mount compass. • Looking to the future, the company has plans to add the Cessna 172 B, C, and D models to the STC, and is beginning to develop a design for Cessna 182s. NEW PANEL REPLACEMENT OPTION FOR OLDER CESSNA 172 MODELS This Tiny Brooklyn Company Is About to Upend the Aviation Industry Air Company creates products like vodka and perfume from captured CO2. Now, their tech is being used to create sustainable jet fuel. A company best known for vodka is now making a sustainable jet fuel. by Kirk Miller Brooklyn’s Air Company captures excess CO2 from the air and transforms it into different products — a noble goal, to be sure. So far, this eco-friendly process has produced a really nice vodka, a fragrance, hand sanitizer and…a fuel that could transform the airline industry. In late September, Air Company announced the launch of its Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) made from captured CO2, dubbed AIRMADE SAF. And this announcement wasn’t limited to mere proof of concept; JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, Boom Supersonic and even the United States Air Force were listed as day-one partners, with commitments to purchase over one billion gallons of this CO2-derived jet fuel (the Air Force had already conducted an unmanned flight with AIRMADE SAF). Why is this important? According to the company, aviation represents 2-3% of global CO2 emissions. With AIRMADE SAF — which creates their carbon-negative fuel using a technology that mimics photosynthesis (and is produced with renewable energy) — greenhouse gas emissions via air travel could be reduced by 97% compared to traditional jet fuel. This sounds great, and I’ve visited Air Company’s HQ before and seen their process. Which I admittedly still don’t understand. To learn more, and see how a company I associated with vodka and perfume could upend the aviation industry, I emailed Gregory Constantine, CEO and Co-Founder of Air Company, to get a better understanding of the tech. InsideHook: You say AIRMADE SAF can work “without the need for blending with fossil fuel” — is that true as it’s currently produced? Also, does that mean that the only thing holding back mass production of this alternative fuel is simply the capacity to create it? Gregory Constantine: Yes, we have already tested and flown an unmanned aircraft with The United States Air Force on 100% unblended AIRMADE SAF. Currently, industry regulations require engines to be fueled with a blended mixture of SAF and traditional, fossil fuel-derived fuel to fly an aircraft. Regulations do not permit an aircraft to fly on 100% SAF, which is something we’re working diligently with our aviation partners to achieve, while also pushing the industry towards decarbonization overall. You are however correct that the only thing holding it back is mass production along with cost reduction timelines, which we have the ability to overcome. You started with more everyday items — vodka (which we discussed), hand sanitizer, perfume, etc. Was the process of using your tech to create aviation fuel any different or more complex? Was this always a goal when you started? We started with these items to demonstrate the feasibility of carbon conversion technology and to help our consumers gain a more tangible understanding of how we can convert CO2 into commercial products while also perfecting our technical scale-up. The process of creating our aviation fuel is based on the same principles of our ethanol (vodka, perfume) technology with some nuanced variations to really optimize for mass adoption and scale of the specific product (SAF). Was it difficult to convince major airlines (and the Air Force) to buy into the concept? Collaborating with us on our innovation and concept isn’t without its hurdles. However, the positive reaction from groups such as the Air Force, as well as our other airline partners is a testament to their desire to move the world toward sustainable and modular methods of production, to replace fossil fuels. There are key differences between existing SAF and AIRMADE™ SAF. The major difference is being significantly greater in greenhouse gas reduction. This is coupled with the fact that our AIRMADE™ SAF is reliant on an endless resource (CO2), rather than finite sources like forestry and agricultural waste, which many others rely on. Given these two key differences and the pressure the aviation industry is under to reach net zero goals, the industry has been tremendously welcoming and excited to embrace our SAF. While the promise of power-to-liquid SAF has been circulating in the industry as a technological advancement for quite some time, most believed it would not be commercialized for decades to come — until now. "I’m sure I did this when I visited you in 2019, but can you explain (like I’m 12) the technology behind capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) and turning it into impurity-free alcohol?" Our process mimics photosynthesis by using only air (CO2), water and sun (solar energy) to transform CO2 into carbon-negative alcohols. The output of this process is a reactor liquid that is a mixture of ethanol, methanol, water and a layer of paraffins, which are used for fuel production specifically. The only byproducts are water and oxygen. Any projects for the future you can tell us about? Right now, we’re focusing tremendously on commercializing our technology and increasing our production capacity to meet the demand for our consumer and industrial products. We’re excited to be supported by a number of key players in the aviation industry to help us achieve our AIRMADE™ SAF production goals in an effort to decarbonize the industry as a whole. This Tiny Brooklyn Company Is About to Upend the Aviation Industry Curt Lewis