December 21, 2022 - No. 047 In This Issue : Pratt & Whitney’s PW812D Engine Earns FAA Certification : Airbus Summit Showcases Sustainability Status : 3D PRINTING BEING “WIDELY USED” IN THE PRODUCTION OF NEW CHINESE FIGHTER JETS : For a selection of jobs in the3D Printing industry. : Enstrom Receives FAA Production Certificate : PLASMA PROPULSION DISCOVERY COULD HERALD A ‘NEW ERA OF SPACE EXPLORATION : GPS Disruptions: DOT Could Improve Efforts to Identify Interference Incidents and Strengthen Resilience : Embraer E2s Earn Transport Canada Type Certification : GE’s Avio To Test Hydrogen Hybrid-Electric Engine : How Far Can You Fly a Battery-Powered Jumbo Jet? : Boeing 747-8 BBJ scrapped after flying only 29 hours : Robotic Aircraft Paint Removal Nears Commercial Launch : New Avionics Innovation Helps Airlines Reduce 800 Tonnes of Co2 Emissions as WeSky Delivers the World's Lightest In-Seat Power Solution Pratt & Whitney’s PW812D Engine Earns FAA Certification Molly McMillin - December 02, 2022 Pratt & Whitney Canada has received FAA certification for its PW812D engine, which is expected to power the Dassault Falcon 6X business jet. The engine already has earned certification from Transport Canada and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. “We successfully achieved this critical step by working closely with Dassault since the launch of this great program,” says Maria Della Posta, president of Pratt & Whitney Canada. Entry-into-service of the Falcon 6X is expected in mid-2023. “Together, the PW812D engine and Falcon 6X aircraft are a winning combination, designed to set the bar in fuel efficiency, performance and comfort,” says Eric Trappier, Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO. The PW812D engine has undergone more than 6,100 hr. of engine testing, including more than 1,150 hr. of flight testing and 20,000 hr. on the engine core. Members of the PW800 family of engines have undergone more than 240,000 hr. of testing, including more than 42,000 hr. of flight testing. The PW800 engine shares a common core with the Pratt & Whitney GTF engine, which has been flown more than 15 million hr. since its launch in 2016. The PW800 engine requires 40% less scheduled maintenance and 20% fewer inspections than other engines in its class, the company says. Pratt & Whitney’s PW812D Engine Earns FAA Certification Airbus Summit Showcases Sustainability Status By Bjorn Fehrm Note: Important graphics in original article. December 7, 2022, © Leeham News was at Airbus Summit: Airbus briefed media and influences on its Sustainability progress during briefings in Toulouse and Munich last week. Here is an update on where Airbus is with its programs. The overall impression is of tangible progress on techno brick research and development and echo systems programs like SAF production and hydrogen supply and ground infrastructure. At the summit, key customers like Airlines, technology partners, and leasing companies were part of the panels, giving the customer perspective and the view of the passengers. Figure 1. The test setup of the Airbus fuel cell turboprop engine on its A380 test aircraft. Source: Airbus. The presented areas Status were given for the following areas; • The status of SAF for the installed fleet and deliveries of regular turbofan jets. • The status of technology development for the 2035 introduction of a hydrogen-fueled airliner. • To what extent can hybrid be a part of Sustainable airliners, and how shall it be done? • Can helicopters be more sustainable, and how? • What part of air transport can UAM traffic systems do better? SAF for yesterday’s and today’s turbofan airliners Airbus had invited Neste, a pioneer in Sustainable Aircraft Fuel (SAF) to discuss the present status. Today most aircraft and engines can accept up to 50% mix of SAF/Jet-A1 blend. But we only have 0.1% SAF in production right now of the total usage of 350 million tonnes of jet fuel per year. Neste will increase its production with new production plants from today’s 0.1 million tonnes to 2.2 million tonnes by 2026. Total production by 2026 will be around 5 million tonnes, a too-low figure. To foster investment in SAF production capacity, we need a strong demand signal. Airbus and several airlines have set a goal of a 10% SAF mix by 2030 by it, creating a demand signal to the SAF producers. It’s important to understand that a 10% mix for all 25,000 airliners flying each day is far more important than that one or two types can be delivered capable of flying a 100% mix by 2030. With a 100 or 200-per-year production rate, a 100% mix for an aircraft type will do nothing to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. A blend of 10% SAF by 2030 and 50% by 2040 will. Airliners need changes in fuel systems and engines to go beyond 50%. It can only be achieved with newly produced aircraft. What shall we then do with the other 24,000 flying each day? The development of a ZEROe airliner Airbus has committed to introducing a hydrogen-fueled airliner by 2035. Several activities must be completed for such an introduction to be successful: • An airplane must be developed, certified, and produced. • An ecosystem with green hydrogen production and distribution must be set up. • Governments, Regulators, and Airlines must be brought onto the project so commercial traffic can be operated on commercially acceptable terms. Hydrogen airliner development Airbus is working on all the technobricks (Airbus speak for all the parts/system that are needed) that need to be explored and matured so a configuration decision can be made in 2027 after flight trials of a hydrogen Turbofan and a Fuel Cell turboprop has been done 2026 on a test A380 (Figure 1). The tricky bits are the hydrogen fuel tank with piping/filling system and the fuel cell-based turboprop system. The hydrogen-burning turbofan is relatively straightforward; GE/CFM, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce all have hydrogen-burning gas turbine knowledge and can offer an engine for 2035. The tricky side of H2-burning engines is the emissions. CO2 emissions are zero, but the engine emits NOx and water vapor. The NOx emissions are reduced to around 20%, so it’s a five times improvement over today’s engine, and steam injection in the combustor, like for the SWITCH engine, could reduce this further. The water vap or forming condensation trails is a problem that needs more research. It’s an altitude problem. There will be no condensation trails below and above a certain altitude. How tricky it will be to avoid the condensation altitudes is not fully understood. Therefore, Airbus is flying a glider with an H2 engine this winter; to learn more about this phenomenon. The 2026 A380 flights with an H2 converted GE Passport engine will also investigate the contrail problem with a sniffer aircraft flying behind the A380 to sample the exhaust from the engine. The fuel cell turboprop units will benefit from bench tests in Airbus’ ZEROe system test house in Ottobrun Munich. Systems are run with complete hydrogen-fueled fuel cell systems that power electric MegaWatt motors, running in normal conduction form and superconduction setups (Figures 2 and 3). Figure 2. The Airbus fuel cell turboprop unit is tested on the A380 in 2026. Source: Airbus. Figure 3. The thermal management of the fuel cell propulsion unit is challenging. Source: Airbus. The results from these and OEM tests with burning H2 engines go into trade studies around different ZEROe airliners. These studies have already settled the H2 tank placement behind the rear pressure bulkhead of the fuselage. The static Center of Gravity (CG) influence of duel tanks there (dual for redundancy) is compensated by moving the wing backward. As H2 is lighter than jet fuel for the same energy content, the variation in the center of gravity with different H2 levels during the mission is acceptable with such a tank placement. The trade studies around the different propulsion alternatives are made with different size regional to single-aisle aircraft sizes. A typical size aircraft would be 100 seats with a 1,000nm range. It would be the practical limit for a fuel cell alternative, whereas an H2-burning alternative can be larger. The hydrogen supply ecosystem A major part of a feasible hydrogen airliner by 2035 is producing and distributing the necessary hydrogen to the aircraft. Airbus has a dedicated team that works with the hydrogen industry’s stakeholders to enable such an ecosystem, Figure 4. Figure 4. Partners in the Airbus hydrogen ecosystem as of 2022. Source: Airbus. It can use the space industry, which has used hydrogen as one of its primary fuels for 70 years, but also the road truck industry. Several truck manufacturers base their future long-haul trucks on hydrogen (due to energy density and refueling times), while their distribution trucks use batteries. The world’s largest truck company, Daimler, with its Mercedes trucks, has decided on liquid hydrogen, LH2. It’s developing production and filling stations for the LH2 and will set this up in the thousands. These will give Airbus and the H2 industry valuable insights, as it needs to equip perhaps 20 to 50 airports with this capacity to form a viable ecosystem. The pilot airport, Lyon, is already preparing to run its ground equipment vehicles on hydrogen from a pilot H2 storage and distribution system at the airport. Air Liquid will assist in setting this up based on its space launcher H2 knowledge. Airbus showed examples of the hydrogen infrastructure that airports like Lyon will install, Figure 5. Figure 5. A fully developed H2 supply setup at an airport with H2 electrolysis and LH2 liquefaction. Source: Airbus. How to use hybrid technology for airliners The hybrid technology part of the Airbus Summit was refreshing. Airbus has realized that using hybrid technology to propel airliners doesn’t make sense. The energy source available, batteries, are just too inefficient. This is valid today but also tomorrow. It doesn’t mean hybrid technology is dead in an airliner; it just has to be used cleverly. Forget about using it to propel the aircraft. A plane the size of an A320 uses 18 to 22 MegaWatt (MW) power to the fan during takeoff and 5 to 7 MW during cruise. There is NO way batteries can supply useful energy for such power needs (a battery system weighs about 5 tonnes for 1 MWh of energy). Instead, use the electric technology in an expanded “more electric airplane” scheme. Place the auxiliary gearbox generators on the spools as starter motor generators and use these to assist the engines with their tricky power changes. Also, put electric motors on the main wheels and taxi on electric power. Convert a number of bleed or hydraulic power functions to electric. We used to call this “the more electric aircraft.” The Airbus hybrid is an extension of this theme, rather than the classic hybrid interpretation, where electric energy is involved in the aircraft’s propulsion. It uses the advantages of electric functions and avoids the downside, the heavy and expensive batteries. Can helicopters be more sustainable, and how Helicopters are incredibly flexible as they can take off and land almost everywhere. But they are also noisy, vibrate a lot, and consume a lot of energy per passenger kilometer. Airbus is the world’s largest helicopter manufacturer and is hard at work to address the above drawbacks and make the helicopter more environmentally friendly and sustainable. It works on electrifying several of today’s mechanical functions to replace these with intelligently controlled electrical functions. For this purpose, it uses technology demonstrators, Figure 6. Figure 6. Airbus helicopter emission roadmap. Source: Airbus. What part of air transport can UAM traffic systems do better? As described in my Friday Corner, Airbus is one of the few eVTOL developers that need not pitch to investors. Its strategy for the CityAirbus NG is long-term, and Airbus is very cognisant of public perception of eVTOLs flying above people’s heads to transport executives to and from an airport. It has, therefore, identified the EMS (Emergency Medical Services) as its first use case. It has engaged with Europe’s most digitally aware country, Estonia, to create an end-to-end optimized emergency service called LifeSaver. Figure 6. The CityAirbus NG is used in the LifeSaver EMS application. Source: Airbus. Airbus is one of the few OEMs that is perfectly honest with its eVTOL performance, speed of 65kts, and range of 43nm, a fraction of other OEMs’ claims. The CitryAirbus NG is, therefore, the close-range component of this system, which has unique features by being quiet and environmentally friendly (no gas turbine exhaust and noise like from a helicopter). Its drawback is load capability (no stretchers) and range. So the eVTOL is a complement to a helicopter fleet. The approach shows how the eVTOL forms part of something larger, important, and end-to-end optimized; the saving of people’s lives where the first hour makes all the difference in survivability. Airbus Summit Showcases Sustainability Status 3D PRINTING BEING “WIDELY USED” IN THE PRODUCTION OF NEW CHINESE FIGHTER JETS PAUL HANAPHY - DECEMBER 05TH 2022 - 6:30PM 8 0 Note: Important graphics in original article. The 3D Printing Industry Awards 2022 shortlists are now available for voting. Who will win the 2022 3DPI Awards? Have your say by casting your vote now. China’s Shenyang Aircraft Company (SAC) is reported to be using 3D printing extensively in the production of its latest fighter jets. Said to feature extraordinary maneuverability, stealth capabilities, and an internal weapons bay, one of SAC’s highest-profile jets, the Shenyang FC-31 stealth fighter, recently completed its first test flight. While the exact nature of the firm’s 3D printing activities hasn’t been revealed, the technology is understood to have enabled the development of lighter, more durable aircraft part assemblies. “3D printed parts were widely used on a newly-developed aircraft that has made its maiden flight not long ago,” Doctor Li Xiaodan of Shenyang Aircraft Company’s craft research institute, told China Central Television (CCTV) last month. “We are applying 3D printing technologies on aircraft on a large scale at an engineering level, and we are in a world-leading position.” China’s Shenyang Aircraft Company Though there’s little information out there for western observers about SAC, it is known to be a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. Based in Beijing, the Chinese state-owned conglomerate has a massive footprint in the country’s aerospace and defense sectors. As of 2021, the firm was ranked 140th in the Fortune Global 500 and it now has over 100 subsidiaries and 500,000 staff. Not strictly a military aircraft manufacturer, SAC also produces parts like jet engines with civilian applications, as well as parts for UAVs and drones. That said, the company has had a big hand in the development of China’s second fifth-generation fighter jet, the FC-31, and it continues to seek out new ways of advancing the country’s defense interests. SAC’s Shenyang FC-31 stealth fighter jet. As alluded to by the Global Times where Xiaodan’s comments were initially reported, the J-5, J-15, J-16 and FC-31 fighters all come under the SAC’s remit, and are therefore likely to be benefiting from its 3D printing adoption. Also known as the J-31, the latter is a 17.3 meter long, 11.5-meter wingspan multipurpose fighter jet with twin engines, designed to take on anything a future battlefield might throw at it. According to reports, the FC-31 also features enhanced avionics and sensors, providing pilots with improved situational awareness and ‘electronic-warfare’ systems. These are complimented by the aircraft’s design, with its airframe incorporating low-aspect ratio trapezoidal planform wings, each of which has a sweep of 35°, in a way that reduces its radar cross-section and makes it stealthier. While the aircraft has been under development for some time, with a demonstrator version of the J-31 first flown in 2012, its final design is starting to come together as it nears its active service date of 2024. A carrier-based FC-31 was flight-tested as recently as November 2021, and now SAC has provided some insight into the technologies likely to be behind its production, and that of its other jets. In particular, 3D printing is said to have helped the SAC meet the growing demands of new-type warplane development in terms of weight reduction, lifespan extension, cost control and rapid response. Speaking to the Global Times, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert, added that the technology allows for the creation of rivets and welding-free integrated parts with ‘higher structural strength.’ More broadly, CCTV has reported that the technology is also being deployed across the Chinese aviation industry, not just at SAC but at other aircraft manufacturers. When it comes to the FC-31, meanwhile, the fighter will likely be developed into China’s next carrier-based fighter jet, and become available as an export under the ‘F-60’ designation. A rendering of Ursa Major’s Arroway rocket engine. Image via Ursa Major. Due to the competitive nature of the global defense sector, contractors aren’t always keen to share their latest fighter-related advances, but there’s growing evidence to suggest many are turning to 3D printing. Earlier this year, for example, it emerged that Rostec subsidiaries are likely to be building 3D printing upgraded MiG-31s to aid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On the flipside, Ursa Major’s 3D printed rocket engine has been introduced as an alternative to the now-unavailable Russian RD-180 and RD-181 propulsion systems used by many US launch firms. The firm’s ‘Arroway’ methane-staged combustion engine is being built using 3D printing, in a way that’s said to yield lead time and part consolidation benefits. HENSOLDT has also unveiled a 3D printed Kalaetron Attack jammer that’s designed specifically to protect Western fighter jets against Russian air defense systems. Featuring electronics condensed via 3D printing, the device is set to be deployed by the German Armed Forces within air defense and intelligence-gathering applications. Are you looking for a job in the additive manufacturing industry? Visit 3D Printing Jobs for a selection of roles in the industry. Featured image shows SAC’s Shenyang FC-31 stealth fighter jet. Photo via the South China Morning Post. 3D PRINTING BEING “WIDELY USED” IN THE PRODUCTION OF NEW CHINESE FIGHTER JETS Are you looking for a job in the additive manufacturing industry? Visit 3D Printing Jobs for a selection of roles in the industry. For a selection of roles in the3D Printing industry. Enstrom Receives FAA Production Certificate By Kate O'Connor - Published: December 15, 2022 Image: Enstrom Helicopter Corporation Enstrom Helicopter Corporation announced on Tuesday that it has received its FAA production certificate, authorizing the company to once again manufacture parts for all Enstrom helicopter models. Enstrom filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and closed its factory in Menominee, Michigan, in January 2022. The company was purchased by Surack Enterprises founder Chuck Surack last May. “This is really a testament to the relationship that Doug and Bill Taylor (Enstrom’s VP of Engineering) have with the FAA,” said Enstrom CEO Matt Francour. “It was a tremendous amount of work, but with their experience and knowledge we were able to get it completed in record time. We had been building parts for the last six months under our Type Certificate holder authorization, which allowed us to support our customers, but with the PC in hand now we can start approving parts under our normal processes, which will really speed things up.” According to Surack, Enstrom is on track to begin delivering new helicopters this coming spring. Enstrom Helicopter Corporation has manufactured more than 1,300 helicopters since it was founded by mining engineer Rudy Enstrom in 1959. The company produces models including the turbine 480B and piston F28F and 280FX. Enstrom Receives FAA Production Certificate PLASMA PROPULSION DISCOVERY COULD HERALD A ‘NEW ERA OF SPACE EXPLORATION’ MICAH HANKS · DECEMBER 9, 2022 Researchers say they may have discovered the solution to a problem that has long hindered progress with a novel form of plasma propulsion that could one day carry humans to distant planets, and potentially launch a new era of space exploration. The helicon double-layer thruster (HDLT) is a prototype plasma thruster propulsion system that works by injecting gas into an open-ended source tube, where radio frequency AC power produced by an antenna surrounding it electromagnetically ionizes the gas. Within this highly charged plasma, a low-frequency electromagnetic helicon wave is excited by the antenna’s electromagnetic field, further heating the plasma. Such “magnetic nozzle” thrusters accelerate the plasma they produce to generate thrust for spacecraft, representing a form of electric propulsion with several potential applications in spacecraft design. However, while plasma flows that occur naturally within magnetic fields are often released or “detached”—like when coronal ejections erupt from the Sun—getting plasmas to behave in the same way in the laboratory is more challenging. Part of the reason for this has to do with the fact that magnetic field lines form closed loops, requiring a mechanism for plasma flow to be detached from the magnetic nozzle in order for thrust to occur. Although ions detach easily on account of their sizable gyro radius, the same can’t be said for magnetized electrons, whose electric fields grab the ions and return them into the thrust structure, thereby nullifying the production of any actual thrust. Now, researchers with Tohoku University and The Australian National University say they have announced the experimental demonstration of cross-field inward transport of electrons in a magnetic nozzle as a result of magneto-sonic wave excitation. The result appears to be a successful reduction in the divergence of expanding plasmas, as well as the reported neutralization of detaching ions; findings that represent a potential breakthrough in overcoming the longstanding plasma detachment problem. Professor Christine Charles, the inventor of the helicon double-layer thruster and one of the co-authors of the team’s recent study, spoke with The Debrief about the implications their discovery could have on refining the performance of the HDLT, especially in terms of advancing future spaceflight systems. “In laboratory experiments, the magnetic nozzle and the plasma flow are terminated by a vacuum chamber wall,” Dr. Charles told The Debrief. The closed magnetic field lines cannot be achieved within the vacuum chamber due to its finite size.” However, when plasma flows collide with the walls of the vacuum chamber, Charles says the momentum originating from the thruster ends up being transferred there, resulting in the equal but opposite reaction force being exerted on the thruster. “Therefore, we still do not know what would happen if we were to test it in infinite space,” Charles told The Debrief. However, the team’s new research bears promise since, in their most recent observations in the lab, electrons have been shown to behave in ways very different from past instances, which gave rise to the plasma detachment problem. “In the laboratory, the present experiment surprisingly shows the signal leading to electron detachment from the magnetic nozzle,” Charles told The Debrief. Normally, when electrons become magnetized, this results in their orbit becoming tied to magnetic field lines. However, in their recent experiments, Charles says that the inward electron transport “contributes to the deviation of the electron orbit from the magnetic field lines.” “Since the direction of the electron transport is the same as that of the ion transport, the cross-field-diffusing electrons can neutralize the ions detaching from the magnetic field lines,” Charles told The Debrief. “Therefore, these results establish a valid scenario toward plasma detachment from the magnetic nozzle,” she says. The HDLT, which was originally based on technologies developed by Rod W. Boswell, also one of the paper’s co-authors, employs a combination of an accelerating electric field and a lack of any need for a neutralizer. These make its use advantageous as a means of plasma propulsion, although there are still issues that could limit how soon the HDLT might be implemented in actual spaceflight systems. PLASMA PROPULSION DISCOVERY COULD HERALD A ‘NEW ERA OF SPACE EXPLORATION GPS Disruptions: DOT Could Improve Efforts to Identify Interference Incidents and Strengthen Resilience GAO-23-105335 Published: Dec 15, 2022. Publicly Released: Dec 15, 2022. Note: Important graphics in original article. Fast Facts GPS improves transportation safety, but is vulnerable to interference from radio signal jamming or other sources. The Department of Transportation is responsible for identifying GPS interference incidents and improving the transportation sector's ability to withstand and recover from them. We found that DOT's process for identifying incidents doesn't produce accurate or complete information and isn't documented. Also, DOT has efforts underway to improve the sector's resilience, like researching potential GPS backups. But, it doesn't yet have a strategic plan to guide and prioritize these efforts. What GAO Found Transportation modes use GPS—a satellite-based system—to obtain positioning, navigation, and timing information. This information enhances transportation safety by supporting surveillance, situational awareness, and emergency response. However, GPS is vulnerable to unintentional and intentional interference from a variety of sources such as solar flares and jamming. Such interference has the potential to affect transportation safety. Example of How Interference with GPS Signals May Affect Aviation Safety The Department of Transportation's (DOT) process for identifying potential GPS interference incidents does not result in complete and accurate information. In January 2020, DOT began analyzing user reports of potential GPS interference across all transportation modes to identify incidents and support federal investigations. Through this process, DOT identified 196 potential GPS interference incidents from January 2020 through May 2022. However, GAO found that DOT's process does not include all available user reports, and DOT's data contain inaccurate information. For instance, GAO found that during this period users submitted 72 reports of potential GPS interference to a system DOT does not consider in its process. DOT's process faces limitations because DOT has not documented it nor identified controls to ensure complete and accurate information. Instead, one individual knows how it works, and no other staff review or verify the results. Without a process that produces quality GPS interference information, federal efforts to quickly respond to and stop interference could be delayed. DOT has undertaken many efforts intended to improve the transportation sector's resilience to GPS interference, such as working to identify potential GPS backups. However, the extent to which DOT's efforts have improved resilience is unclear because DOT has not taken a strategic approach to guide its efforts. Though DOT has taken steps to plan some of its resilience activities, DOT's current approach does not guide its collective resilience efforts or fully define objectives, prioritize actions, or address challenges, consistent with key program management standards. DOT officials told GAO they are in the process of developing a strategic plan to guide its positioning, navigation, and timing resilience efforts but do not expect the draft to be complete until early 2023. Until DOT has a more strategic approach in place, it is limited in its ability to assess progress toward resilience, leverage limited resources, and navigate long standing challenges to improving resilience. Why GAO Did This Study GPS provides positioning, navigation, and timing information that enhances transportation safety. Therefore, GPS interference has the potential to significantly harm transportation safety. Federal policy requires DOT to identify and respond to interference incidents in the U.S., improve resilience to GPS interference, and ensure transportation safety. GAO was asked to review DOT's efforts to identify and address GPS interference effects on transportation safety. This report, among other things: (1) describes interference effects on transportation safety; (2) assesses DOT's processes to identify interference incidents; and (3) assesses DOT's approach to improve resilience to GPS interference. GAO reviewed federal laws and policies, DOT policies, and analyzed DOT's and other agencies' data on user-reported interference incidents from 2017 through spring 2022. GAO also interviewed federal officials, industry stakeholders, and researchers selected for representation across modes, among other factors. Skip to Recommendations Recommendations GAO is making two recommendations for DOT (1) to document its incident identification process, including identifying controls to obtain complete and accurate information and (2) to develop a strategic approach to resilience that fully aligns with key standards for program management. DOT agreed with these recommendations. GPS Disruptions: DOT Could Improve Efforts to Identify Interference Incidents and Strengthen Resilience Embraer E2s Earn Transport Canada Type Certification By Kate O'Connor - Published: December 15, 2022 Image: Embraer Embraer has received type certificates for its E195-E2 and E190-E2 single-aisle commercial jets from Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA). The company also announced that it will be delivering the first E195-E2 to operate in North America to Toronto-based Porter Airlines shortly. Porter currently has a firm order for 50 E195-E2s and options for 50 more. “The world’s most efficient family of single-aisle aircraft is shaping the regional market with its sustainable technologies, superior cabin comfort, excellent economics and optimal range,” Embraer said. “As operators look to the future, renewing ageing fleets and expanding networks, the E2 will be at the heart of this transformation.” The E190-E2 was certified by the FAA, EASA and Brazilian regulatory authority ANAC in 2018 followed by the E195-E2 in 2019. Capable of seating up to 146 passengers in a single class configuration, the E195-E2 offers a range of 2,600 NM and a 25 percent lower fuel burn than the previous generation E195. The E190-E2 can seat up to 114 passengers with a range of 2,850 NM and 17 percent lower emissions compared to its predecessor. Embraer E2s Earn Transport Canada Type Certification GE’s Avio To Test Hydrogen Hybrid-Electric Engine Thierry Dubois - December 15, 2022 LYON, France–An Avio Aero-led consortium has been awarded €34 million ($36 million) for a technology demonstration program that combines a fuel cell and a hybrid-electric propulsion system based on a GE Catalyst turboprop. The four-year agreement helps the European Commission’s Clean Aviation public-private partnership materialize, as the Joint Undertaking is proceeding with the first contracting phase. Dubbed Amber, the demonstrator will be ground tested in the mid-2020s, according to the plan of Avio Aero, a GE Aerospace company. It is aimed at validating technologies for a megawatt-class, hybrid-electric propulsion system powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. Studied will be integration of hybrid-electric components—including a motor-generator, power converters, and power transmission systems—with a fuel cell. The parallel hybrid-electric propulsion system will be based on a Catalyst supplemented by an electric motor powered with the fuel cell. Germany-based H2FLY—a company specializing in the development of hydrogen-electric power systems for aircraft—will supply the megawatt-class fuel cell system along with the corresponding architecture, interfaces, and fuel cell controls. Leonardo will provide guidance on aircraft integration. Other partners in the 21-member consortium include German aerospace research center DLR and its Italian counterpart, CIRA. The hybrid-electric technologies developed with Amber will be compatible with advanced engine architectures, such as an open fan, Avio Aero says. “Clean Aviation’s primary ambition is to drive a step change in aircraft performance by radically boosting efficiency in aircraft and fleet performance,” said Axel Krein, executive director of Clean Aviation. “For regional aircraft, our goal is an improvement of at least 50% compared to a typical flight today. The Amber project, as one of our 20 daring new projects now underway, will play a key role in helping us deliver this ambitious target.” GE’s Avio To Test Hydrogen Hybrid-Electric Engine How Far Can You Fly a Battery-Powered Jumbo Jet? The answer explains why electric cars are everywhere but electric aircraft are still a novelty. PHOTOGRAPH: KICKERS/GETTY IMAGES Note: Important graphics in original article. THE GREATEST THING about electric cars is that they don't burn fossil fuels, adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. We can't keep burning that stuff forever. But while electric cars are increasingly common, electric aircraft are just getting off the ground. Sure, there are drones with electric motors, quadcopter-style vehicles big enough to carry a person, and even a few electric commercial aircraft. (Air Canada recently ordered 30 of these planes from Heart Aerospace.) Still, there are some significant challenges to using batteries for flight, which is why you probably haven’t taken a trip in an electric plane. Here are some of the physics problems that aviation engineers will have to grapple with first. Physics of Flying Objects on Earth stay on the ground due to their gravitational interaction with the planet, which creates a downward-pulling force. In order to get off the ground and then remain airborne, a plane needs an upward-pushing force that is equal in magnitude to the gravitational force. For aircraft, this force is called the lift, and it's due to the interaction between the plane’s wings and the air. How exactly does a wing provide lift? A wing is an angled surface moving through air, which is made up of tiny molecules that are essentially stationary. Imagine these molecules as being like snow, and the wing as a plow that pushes through them, deflecting them downward, but also slightly forward. If the wing pushes on the air, then the air must push back on the wing in the opposite direction—which in this case mostly means upward. This is the lift force. Actually, since the force from the air pushes mostly up, but also pushes slightly backwards, in the direction opposite to the motion of the wing, we often break this interaction into two forces. The upward-pushing force is called the lift, and the backwards force is the drag. Notice that these two forces are connected. You can't have lift without drag, because they are from the same interaction. You can change the magnitude of the lift force on a wing. If the plane is traveling faster, it will collide with more air and produce a greater lift—but also a greater drag. If you want the aircraft to fly in a level path, its lift must be equal to its weight. When a plane decreases its speed below a certain value (which depends on the characteristics of that particular plane), then it will begin to fall. The lift force also depends on the area of the wings. Bigger wings collide with more air to produce greater lift. Finally, the lift also depends on the angle that the wing moves through the air, which is called “the angle of attack.” With all these parameters, it's sometimes easier to characterize a particular aircraft with a value called the “glide ratio.” Imagine a plane with no forward thrust, which is what would happen if the engines were turned off. Now the backwards-pushing drag force will make the plane decrease in speed. However, if the aircraft moves downward (to a lower altitude) as it continues to fly forward, then it can use the gravitational force to keep moving at a constant speed, but it will not maintain a level flight. This ratio of how far it moves horizontally compared to how far it drops vertically is the glide ratio. (Since this ratio really depends on the connection between lift and drag, it’s equal to the value of the lift force divided by the drag force, often called the L/D ratio.) A typical airliner will have a glide ratio of around 15 to 1 (or just 15), meaning it will move forward 15 meters and drop 1 meter during unpowered flight. A non-powered glider can have a ratio of over 40 to 1. Power to Fly If you want an aircraft to travel at a constant speed in level flight, you are going to need some type of thrust. There has to be some force pushing the plane forward to balance the backwards-pushing drag force. Both jets and propeller-based vehicles essentially do this by taking air and throwing it backwards, through an engine or past a propeller, to provide a forward-pushing force. Increasing the speed of the air requires energy. Conventional aircraft get this energy through the combustion of jet fuel—but it could just as easily be from an electrical battery, or any number of other energy sources. The important thing is that it can’t do this just once; it has to continually push air to provide thrust. If it stops, the aircraft will convert from powered flight to gliding and probably end up back on the ground too soon. Let’s think about the power required to fly at a constant speed. We define power as the rate of change of energy. Let's say you fly this plane for 100 seconds (that's our Δt) and use a total energy of 200 joules (ΔE). Then the power would be ΔE/Δt = 2 joules per second. That is the same as 2 watts. How do we estimate the power required to fly a plane? One method would be to just fly it, then look at how much fuel was consumed. But I want a way to approximate this value without actually getting into an aircraft, so here is a way to do it using the glide ratio. Imagine I have a plane without power gliding down at some angle. After it drops by 1 meter, I lift it back up to its original height. Lifting a plane by a height h requires an energy of m × g × h, where m is the mass of the plane and g is the gravitational field. (On Earth, this has a value of 9.8 newtons per kilogram.) Here’s a diagram of how that looks: I have the energy required to lift the plane, but to calculate the power, I also need the time it takes for this motion to happen. If the aircraft is traveling with a speed v, it will travel some distance s, and it will require a time interval between lifts of Δt = s/v. Putting this all together, I get the following expression for the power: This expression has the ratio of h/s, which is just the inverse of the glide ratio. Let's call the glide ratio G. That means the power to fly the aircraft will be: If the mass is in units of kilograms, and the speed is in meters per second, the power will be in units of watts. Just for fun, let's try this out for a Boeing 747. There are a bunch of variants of the 747, so I'm just going to pick some values. Let's go with a weight of 800,000 pounds and a cruising speed of 800 kilometers per hour. (I will need to do some unit conversions for these values.) Finally, I will go with a glide ratio of 15, which seems reasonable. With that, I get a cruising power requirement of 5.26 x 107 watts, or about 70,000 horsepower. That's a lot, but remember this is a giant jet. What about a smaller aircraft like a Cessna 172? It has a mass of 1,111 kilograms with a cruising speed of 226 km/hr. This put its power at 45,600 watts, or just 61 horsepower. Obviously, a small plane shouldn't require as much power as a large airliner, so that makes sense. Stored Energy and Mass Why do planes use fossil fuels instead of battery power to fly? The reason is that you can get a whole lot of energy by burning aviation gasoline (for propeller aircraft) or jet fuel (for jets—obviously). The key idea here is what's called “energy density.” There are actually two versions of energy density. There is the stored energy per unit volume (in joules per liter) or the stored energy per unit mass (in joules per kilogram), which is usually called the specific energy. Let's go back to the example of the 747. Most variants of this plane have a fuel capacity of somewhere around 200,000 liters, which is really a lot of fuel. With a density of about 0.8 kilogram per liter, this gives it a fuel mass of 160,000 kilograms. The specific energy of jet fuel is around 12,600 watt-hours per kilogram. This means that with 1 kilogram of fuel, you could get a power of 12,600 watts for one hour—assuming you can use all of the energy, which you can't. Let's say that the overall efficiency of the plane is 35 percent (which is the same as saying each jet engine is 35 percent efficient). That means that 1 kilogram of fuel will actually only give you 4,410 watts for one hour. But you see where this is going, right? I know the amount of fuel in the 747 and the required power. With that, I can calculate the flight time (and also the flight distance). Cranking the numbers gives me a flight time of 13.5 hours and a distance of around 10,000 kilometers, or 6,200 miles. That's just a rough calculation, but it seems legit. Now suppose I take all that jet fuel and replace it with batteries. Assume that I can replace the jet engines with equivalent electric-powered turbofan engines or something. So, that's a 160,000-kilogram battery. Electric cars use a lithium-ion battery, and the best specific energy you can get is about 250 watt-hours per kilogram. Now you can already see the problem. If I assume an electric motor is 50 percent efficient, our electric-powered 747 could fly for 22.7 minutes with a range of 304 kilometers. Forget about that trip to Hawaii. Actually, it's even worse than that. I ignored the extra energy you need to get the aircraft up to cruising altitude at its cruising speed. It wouldn't even make it that far. Would it help to have a smaller aircraft like the Cessna 172? Of course, it uses less power, but it also carries less fuel—just about 170 kilograms. If we replace that fuel with a lithium-ion battery, it could fly for about 30 minutes. That's still not great. If you reduce the speed from 220 km/hr to 150 km/hr, you can get a flight time of about 42 minutes, but you won't really be able to get a better distance, since you are flying slower. So, maybe lithium-ion batteries aren't the best option. What about some other energy sources? Let's just try some stuff for fun. How about a nuclear-powered airplane? If you take uranium-235 and break it into parts (like in a reactor), you can get 79 million megajoules per kilogram. That’s 7.9 x 1013 joules for one kilogram of fuel. Still, you can't just drop some uranium in a plane and expect to get power. A nuclear reactor doesn’t just contain fuel, it’s got all sorts of other stuff to turn that nuclear reaction into energy. The most important thing you would need is some heavy shielding to protect the humans on board from radiation. That adds a lot more mass. But still, it's possible. Just 1 kilogram of fuel would be enough for a 747 to fly for over 200 hours. If nuclear planes seem too much like an idea from the Cold War (because they were), what about something more reasonable, like a rubber-band-powered aircraft? They would be like those toy planes you used to build with the wind-up propeller, but just bigger and with more rubber bands. It just so happens that I have previously measured the specific energy for a twisted rubber band. I found that with just one kilogram of rubber bands, you could store 6,605 joules, for a specific energy of 6,605 joules/kg. If you take the fuel out of a 747 and replace it with 160,000 kg of rubber bands, you would get a flight time of 10 seconds. That would be fun—but you wouldn't have time to watch a movie or even for your free drink. At least you could say you flew on a rubber-band plane. What if the plane was powered by having the passengers ride a bunch of exercise bikes? A 747 can easily carry 500 passengers, and a human can produce a power output of 75 watts for a period of eight hours (or one workday). But that just gives a total power of 37,500 watts. That's only 0.07 percent of the power needed to fly at cruising speed. So that won’t work either. Still, it’s sort of a relief. The only thing worse than powering planes with fossil fuels might be powering them with people. How Far Can You Fly a Battery-Powered Jumbo Jet? Boeing 747-8 BBJ scrapped after flying only 29 hours Aviation News Posted By: Haley Davoren, GlobalAir.com Published: Dec. 19, 2022 at 04:32 PM EST Updated: Dec. 19, 2022 at 04:59 PM EST Photo from AFG Aviation on FlyinginIreland A ten-year-old Boeing 747-8 that has flown fewer than 30 hours is being scrapped. The first of its kind to be taken apart, this large plane has had a lonely and isolated history since it was ordered by Saudi Arabia in 2008. The queen of the skies was ordered by the government for Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz but he died unexpectedly in 2011 before delivery. According to Aerotelegraph, the plane was flown to the Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg airport five months after its delivery, near the end of 2012. The plane was parked and then began the long wait for a buyer. Even with only 29 flight hours and 16 flights logged for the aircraft, the attempt to sell the plane for $95 million, did not catch any interest. The plane sat unused for ten years at the Swiss airport, despite numerous attempts to sell the jet at the $95 million price, which according to Aerotime, was one-fifth of the value of the new plane at the time. AFG Ireland acquired the plane in July 2019 and announced the sale back to The Boeing Company in April 2022. FlyinginIreland said the plane was ferried from Basel to Marana, Arizona for storage on April 15. Around the time of the celebrated final delivery of the last Boeing 747 out of its facility in Everett, Washington, the BBJ was being dismantled at Pinal Airpark in Arizona. RELATED STORY: The final Boeing 747 leaves its facility The Boeing, registered N458BJ, was taken apart, losing its engines, rudder and elevator, flaps on its wings, and parts of the tail cone and fuselage panels before being fully scrapped, according to Aerotelegraph. The Boeing 747-8JA has serial number 40065 and according to FlyinginIreland, is one of the lowest-time airframes in existence. The plane cost the Saudi Arabian government about $300 million at the time of the original purchase and was undergoing an VIP refit and was all white in color as it was never fully painted. This VIP version of the 747 could not be sold for even a fraction of the original cost. Aerotime said that as of Dec. 2022, only nine Boeing 747-8 BBJs were currently left in active service, operating for governments like Kuwait or Qatar. The Boeing built for royalty never received royal treatment. The all-white aircraft sat idle for ten years, waiting for a buyer and a chance to fly. Just as the final of its kind is heading out for a triumphant delivery, this lonely Boeing is being scrapped, never given a chance to see the sky. Boeing 747-8 BBJ scrapped after flying only 29 hours Robotic Aircraft Paint Removal Nears Commercial Launch Lindsay Bjerregaard December 15, 2022 Robots will soon be making their commercial debut to remove aircraft paint and coatings. Dutch robotics specialist Xyrec is targeting the operational launch of its Laser Coating Removal (LCR) robotic system with a major aircraft manufacturer in mid-2023—and it has big plans for growth from there. Xyrec moved into a custom-built facility at Port San Antonio in late 2020 and used the past two years to test and improve the LCR system. This included its successful demonstration of how the robot’s laser technology could be used to quickly and safely strip paint from aircraft such as the Boeing 727 and C-17. Xyrec CEO Peter Boeijink says that, using two robots, the system is capable of completely stripping paint from a C-17 in approximately 20 hr. He notes that traditional aircraft paint removal processes for this aircraft take approximately two weeks. Boeijink says Xyrec is targeting a “robot-as-a-service” model, meaning customers will pay-per-job to remove paint with any color or substrate from any type of aircraft. Once the system is live at Xyrec’s launch customer, Boeijink plans to target implementation at the “big six” in the U.S., including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, FedEx, Southwest, United and UPS. He notes that many airlines have moved toward outsourcing paint removal services due to the complexity and messy nature of this type of work. Xyrec plans to establish six regional centers in the U.S. where these paint removal services will take place, two of which Boeijink expects to be open by the end of 2024. The company is also planning to target potential military customers, particularly since the U.S. Air Force has already invested significantly in the use of lasers to remove paint and coatings. He says the convenience and flexibility of offering the service close to these airlines’ maintenance facilities will provide a strong business case. Also driving the business case, according to Boeijink, is increased pressure on aviation companies to control sustainability impacts within their supply chains. “The current model where operators are outsourcing [paint removal] is not using robots like we produce,” he notes, pointing out that it is “dirty, ugly work” that uses a large amount of chemicals and water. The LCR system vacuums paint particles as the laser passes over the aircraft surface, collecting them in a sack for disposal. Boeijink says the process results in only around 2 lb. of waste in powder form for a widebody aircraft, compared to approximately 475 gallons of chemicals and 3,700 gallons of water generated through traditional paint removal methods. Besides its North American expansion plans, Boeijink says Xyrec hopes to establish 30 global sites by 2027. The facilities will offer both paint removal and robotic painting through its Automated Paint Robot, which Xyrec says offers quicker paint time, reduced paint usage and more consistent paint thickness. Robotic Aircraft Paint Removal Nears Commercial Launch New Avionics Innovation Helps Airlines Reduce 800 Tonnes of Co2 Emissions as WeSky Delivers the World's Lightest In-Seat Power Solution Commercial Airlines Carbon Footprint is Reduced by over 800 Tonnes Annually for a typical fleet of Single Aisle Boeing or Airbus Aircraft with recharge™️, an Avionics In-Seat Power System December 12, 2022 10:00 ET | Source: WeSky VILNIUS, Lithuania, Dec. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While world and business leaders recently converged at COP27 in Egypt making promises to fulfill climate commitments to their 2050 accord, EU based avionics company WeSky launched an innovation that will help the commercial airline industry fulfill theirs; its first of a kind in-seat power system which is the lightest in the world and helps to reduce fuel consumption and aircraft weight thus lowering carbon emissions for a typical single aisle commercial aircraft. The WeSky 60W USB Power Supply solution, recharge™️, is typically 70% lighter than existing equipment on the market. Other differentiations include increased flexibility and a faster delivery lead-time in light of current supply chain issues facing incumbent competitors. Based on research and typical aircraft performance "this new recharge™️ solution will reduce an Airbus 321 carbon footprint by 16 tonnes/year, compared to other products offered by industry leaders. This means a commercial carrier with a fleet of 50 can save 250 tonnes of fuel consumption per year while also reducing carbon emission by 800 tonnes," said Vytis Petrusevicius, CEO and Founder of WeSky. With effective climate friendly solutions available, the aviation industry has an opportunity to put words into action and not only focus on a shift to using alternative and renewable fuels but also benefit from the implementation of new equipment which promotes efficiency and helps the environment while also benefiting the consumer. "The impact of recharge™️ is extremely significant when you think about how the Aviation Industry can speed up adaptation with such innovation. WeSky hopes to lead in bringing new avionics products to the market that have climate and sustainability at its core. With USB-C common charger regulations taking effect for portable electronics, the airlines will have a reliable solution that reduces the passenger need of traveling with extra battery packs and adaptors which is a further benefit for aircraft efficiency and safety," said Leslie C. Bethel, WeSky Co-founder and Board Member. New Avionics Innovation Helps Airlines Reduce 800 Tonnes of Co2 Emissions as WeSky Delivers the World's Lightest In-Seat Power Solution Photo of the Day The Savoia-Marchetti S.55 was a double-hulled flying boat produced in Italy, beginning in 1924. Shortly after its introduction, it began setting records for speed, payload, altitude and range. Photo extracted from book "Гидросамолеты и экранопланы России. 1910 – 1999"; PD-RUSSIA. Aeroflot Savoia-Marchetti S.55P.jpg Created: circa 1933 Curt Lewis