February 22, 2023 - No. 009 In This Issue : FAA To Issue Airworthiness Directive On Certain Continental Engines : American Airlines Gets 'Eco-Airline of the Year' Title : Airbus H175 blades snapped off at the root : Hill Helicopters Tops 700 Orders : Joby flies towards 2025 commercial launch with final assembly of eVTO : Researchers may have just future-proofed turbines in the aerospace and energy industry : Cessna’s SkyCourier Gets Down And Dirty With New ‘Gravel Kit’ : Boeing-Rolls Short-Inlet Flight Tests Show Potential To Cut Big Fan Drag : Spirit AeroSystems signs 10-year contract with Center Industries :_A TBM 700 Experiences A ‘Torque-Induced Stall: Three (3) Parts FAA To Issue Airworthiness Directive On Certain Continental Engines By Mark Phelps - Published: February 21, 2023 Continental TSIO-550 The FAA has announced it will be issuing a final Airworthiness Directive (AD) Thursday (Feb. 23) on potentially improperly installed crankshaft components of certain Continental Aerospace Technology engines. The AD, which the FAA said will become effective immediately upon issue, is a follow-on to a Continental-issued mandatory service bulletin (SB) issued last week, but with stricter inspection requirements. The FAA said the AD will apply to approximately 1,632 Continental GTSIO-520, IO-360, IO-470, IO-520, IO-550, LTSIO-360, LTSIO-520, O-470, TSIO-360, TSIO-520, TSIO-550, TSIOF-550, and TSIOL-550 model engines manufactured between June 1, 2021, and Feb. 7, 2023. “Owners must inspect these engines before further flight to verify that the crankshaft counterweight retention ring is properly installed and take corrective actions if necessary,” according to the FAA announcement. The issue involves possibly improperly installed snap rings that hold pins in place to support crankshaft counterbalance weights. Continental said improperly installed snap rings may not have seated fully in the groove designed to retain them. Continental said the problem is one of assembly and not the integrity of the snap rings themselves. Earlier this month, Cirrus announced it was grounding its company fleet of SR22s and SR22Ts with engines manufactured during the specified time period out of an “abundance of caution.” For its part, Continental informed customers in early February it was “proactively making the decision to encourage all flights powered by a Continental 360, 470, 520, 550 engine manufactured between June 1, 2021 through February 7, 2023, to pause flight until further information is available.” FAA To Issue Airworthiness Directive On Certain Continental Engines American Airlines Gets 'Eco-Airline of the Year' Title Published on: 20 Feb 2023 by KnowESG, American Airlines Group Inc Image of an American Airlines Airbus A321-200 plane takes off from Los Angeles International airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, U.S. Air Transport World (ATW), the primary media outlet catering to the information needs of the worldwide airline and commercial air transport industries, declared that American Airlines has been designated as the Eco-Airline of the Year for 2023. “American is actively incorporating sustainability at every level of our business, from the fuel we buy to the food we serve our customers,” American CEO Robert Isom said. “And our all-the-above approach is just getting started. As Eco-Airline of the Year, we will continue to lead the industry as an innovator in this space and affirm our unyielding commitment to build an American Airlines that will thrive forever.” ATW praised American's efforts to run a more fuel-efficient operation with more fuel-efficient aircraft powered increasingly by low-carbon fuel and new technology, including the airline's most extensive fleet renewal effort in industry history and significant investments in fuel for the future. Smart gating optimises gate assignments at busy airports and maximises fuel efficiency. It is now in operation at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, and Miami International Airport and is estimated to save 1.4 million gallons of fuel and 13,500 metric tonnes of CO2 each year. Ongoing fleet renewal initiatives have also enabled the airline to improve fuel economy by more than 10% since 2013, saving 1.9 billion gallons of oil and preventing the emission of 19 million metric tonnes of CO2. The world's biggest airline used 2 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in 2022, which was double what it used the year before. This made it the leader in the industry. SAF agreements with Gevo, Inc., Neste, and Aemetis bring the airline’s total low-carbon fuel commitments to more than 620 million gallons. American is also the first U.S. airline to make two direct investments in the future of hydrogen distribution logistics and the development of hydrogen-electric propulsion technology. American was the first airline in the world to have its intermediate carbon emissions reduction objective validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The airline's science-based goal is to reduce carbon intensity by 45% by 2035, compared to a 2019 baseline. “At a time when sustainability is a driving force in the aviation industry, American Airlines has a clear vision for the future of sustainable aviation and is making meaningful strides to reach their goals. With a comprehensive carbon emissions reduction strategy that touches nearly every part of their company, awarding Eco-Airline of the Year to American is incredibly well-deserved in what was the most competitive field yet,” said ATW Editor-in-Chief Karen Walker. American Airlines Gets 'Eco-Airline of the Year' Title Airbus H175 blades snapped off at the root 20-Feb-2023 Source: HeliHub.com An Airbus H175 helicopter operated by Offshore Helicopter Services UK (OHS) has suffered significant damage. G-MCSH flew a 130 mile sector to the Elgin rig on the North Sea, due east of Aberdeen on the morning of Friday 17th February, departing just before 7.30am. Unfortunately the aircraft had a tail rotor issue prior to its return flight, and the tail rotor chip light illuminated – stranding the helicopter on the rig. While parked on the Elgin rig, Storm Otto came through and snapped at least three of its five blades off close to the root. The H175 will need airlifting back to Aberdeen for repair. To add irony to the issue, OHS had sent another H175 G-MCSF to the Airbus Helicopters base in Albacete, Spain just three days earlier to undergo a major corrosion proofing exercise which will take it out of service for at least nine months. A third H175 from the fleet is now test flying in Albacete following completion of the same work program and will be very much welcomed back to the UK as backfill in the near future. Wind speeds from Storm Otto were recorded on 17th February in excess of 80mph in a number of places across Scotland, with some gusts as high as 120mph. A spokesperson for Offshore Helicopter Services UK said: “An H175 experienced a technical problem while on board a platform. Subsequently, strong winds resulted in some damage to the helicopter. An assessment is currently underway to determine the best next steps.” Update 20-Feb-23 Industry sources advise that the rotor brake failed to hold the main blades from windmilling before they had been tied down, resulting in the loss of two broken blades into the sea and another blade hit the cockpit. Read more at https://helihub.com/2023/02/20/airbus-h175-blades-snapped-off-at-the-root/ Airbus H175 blades snapped off at the root Hill Helicopters Tops 700 Orders by Mark Huber - February 1, 2023, 8:07 AM Note: Graphics available in the original article. British aerospace engineer Jason Hill calls the carbon-fiber HX50 "a well-designed, modern helicopter."(Photo: Hill Helicopters) British aerospace engineer Jason Hill became enthralled with helicopters in his youth while watching the television show, Airwolf, the highly fictionalized account of a Bell 222 converted to a supersonic assault weapon. The experience led to a decades-long dream of producing a stylish, modern light-helicopter design he unveiled in 2020, the five-seat Hill HX50. By last November, Hill Helicopters had attracted hundreds of orders and produced its first carbon-fiber, single-piece fuselage. It plans to begin flight testing by the end of 2023. The effort, largely funded by Hill’s successful engineering firm Dynamiq, has drawn its share of skeptics, but Hill plods on with near-monthly progress reports he broadcasts live on YouTube. The videos are a quirky combination of a slick infomercial, college engineering lecture, and town hall meeting, in which Hill personally fields live questions from the electronic audience. Other videos posted by the company feature interviews with Hill’s wife, brother, and colleagues, all testifying to Hill’s long-standing and complete commitment to the helicopter. Isabella Hill calls her husband’s drive to build the HX50, “an obsession.” The carbon-fiber HX50 is more Tesla than Airbus with a splash of Bell 525. The interior, Hill notes, is more spacious than his Range Rover, with a baggage hold easily capable of swallowing three full-sized rollaway bags or multiple sets of golf clubs. Exterior styling cues unmistakably harken back to the 222, amplified with the smooth curves and twists that only molded composite construction can offer. Performance targets include a 140-knot cruise speed, 700-nm maximum range, and 1,760 pounds of useful load. Hill sees his helicopter as a more attractive alternative to eVTOL aircraft in terms of both practicality and cost. “It’s going to be decades before we have batteries or a means of storing enough electrical energy for a genuinely battery-electric aircraft to be practical. I don’t believe [eVTOLs] offer any material advantage over a well-designed, modern helicopter,” he said in 2021. A helicopter pilot himself, Hill regularly flies a Robinson R66, and his slavish devotion to creating and manufacturing a near-completely, vertically-integrated aircraft could have been taken straight out of Frank Robinson’s playbook. Hill actually has gone Robinson one better—he plans on building his own 500-shp turboshaft engine. “We make stuff in-house,” Hill said. “We have absolute, total control of our cost base. What that means for [customers] is not only we deliver you an aircraft at the right price point, it also means that we can control the cost of spares and that the through-life costs of support are properly controlled.” That price point now stands at $708,000 for the base HX50 and slightly less than $1 million for the HC50, a price on par with the Robinson R66. The HX50’s interior looks more like a luxurious automobile than a traditional helicopter. (Photo: Hill Helicopters) OPTIONS ABOUND Like both the R66 and the Bell 505, a variety of options can inflate those numbers quickly. But you would be hard-pressed to find HX50’s option list on any other light helicopter. Options include in-seat electric heaters and air-conditioned seat ventilation; a refrigerated center console compartment beneath the armrest cushion to chill drinks and snacks; and a power supply for each passenger’s tablet computer with audio streamed directly to passenger headsets. The audio fully integrates with the digital cockpit and onboard audio system. Each passenger seat can support rear-facing, forward-facing, and booster seats for children. Other options include a pilot-operable folding blade system, a Helimove electric ground handling system, Home Base secure wireless link to power hangar doors, skids or wheeled gear, and an emergency float system. The digital cockpit can include synthetic vision. A two-axis autopilot is standard, a four-axis is optional. So far the market has responded positively to the plucky Hill’s endeavor. By the end of 2021, Hill had received 342 orders for the kit-built HX50 and yet-uncertified HC50. A year later, in December 2022, that number had more than doubled, closing in on 800 and backed by $36,000 deposits each. Via the YouTube videos, Hill painstakingly documents progress on the HX50, mindful of the stigma often attached to start-ups and “vaporware.” In late 2022, Hill spent considerable time discussing achievements on the fuselage, engine, and avionics. “We’ve pulled together a range of technologies from lots of different industries involved in composite production to bring the price point of composite manufacture down to something that we needed,” Hill said. “In order to do that we’ve had to reject the aerospace norms. We’ve vertically integrated not just the carbon-fiber manufacturing but the pattern making, the mold making, and then the part manufacture itself. And with that has come end-to-end control of the quality, the schedule, and the cost—not just the cost of making the finished airframe but also the cost of developing it.” “We got all of the details right that allowed us to create sharp edges, get the lightning-strike protection in there, and prove that we could make these fuselages in a single piece. We then went on to develop the processes that you need to be able to finish carbon-fiber to the standard that people expect when they’re buying premium products,” Hill said. To do so, the company adapted techniques from boat building, using a low-cost polystyrene base, a fiberglass cover, and sealing layers, to provide vacuum integrity and facilitate resin infusion. The fuselage itself is more than 33 feet long from tip-to-tail, a size Hill calls “a proper" helicopter. "It has the proportions really not far off what you’d expect from an [Airbus Helicopters] AStar,” he said. “It’s [the interior] slightly more generous than what I have in my Range Rover.” LIGHTWEIGHT FUSELAGE Hill will use the first fuselage, built with prototype tooling, to hone human factors calculations. Prior to being stuffed, it weighs around 77 pounds. Hill expects to complete a second full-scale fuselage early this year. The company designed the windows to give both pilot and passengers generous outside viewing, and the rear passenger seats will attach to a bulkhead that allows those passengers to see over the heads of the front-row occupants. The collective and cyclic controls at first glance appear similar to those in the Bell 525, with one on each side of the pilot position. However, on closer examination, the collective is “nestled into the armrest” to allow the pilot’s elbow to rest while making the needed control inputs. The digital cockpit display screens are intentionally positioned low so as to not obscure outside vision at an angle Hill describes as “a little below 20 degrees for most people.” A center console between the two front seats provides ample storage for beverage bottles and small snacks. The fuel bladders hold 175 U.S. gallons and sit behind the rear cabin bulkhead and ahead of another bulkhead for the capacious luggage compartment. Hill plans on building his own 500-shp turboshaft engine. (Photo: Hill Helicopters) Hill said the company’s GT50 single-stage gas turbine has been progressing “quickly,” aided by the use of 3D printing and driven by a modular design that is “simpler, more efficient, lighter and easier to manufacture” with “an extremely low parts count” and that is “easy to maintain.” “Our fuel nozzles are actually removable from the outside of the engine, so they can be changed and checked and modified," Hill said. "The fuel manifolds can be accessed from the outside as well." The engine also uses air-blast atomized fuel injectors for better efficiency and fewer emissions. Hill has refined a new annular combustor that will run on both conventional and synthetic biofuels. The company has reached the final stages of completing the aerodynamic optimization and is developing bearings, turbine blisks, gears, transmissions, and fabricated metal components. Developing the engine, transmission, and components is a particularly complex task. For example, Hill said some of the gears had to be copper-plated prior to heat treating. “When we heat treat gears, we only want to heat treat the teeth. We don’t want the structural parts of the gear and the root material hardened or it would become brittle, have a poor fatigue life, and poor fracture toughness,” Hill said. “You think of all the little things like that we have to do.” For the cockpit, the company has begun work on flight dynamics and control features including stability augmentation. “Now we’ve got formal aerodynamic design established for the aircraft that allows us to develop the way that the two-axis autopilot will deliver stability augmentation; the altitude, heading, speed, and navigation hold functions; and the haptic feedback to provide envelope protection,” Hill explained. “The four-axis autopilot will give you simultaneous control of altitude, speed, heading, or nav, and it can hover-hold. It gives you essentially cruise control in every aspect of life and then much more extensive envelope protection. All of those things are actively now being developed.” That includes developing algorithms and software for the digital cockpit and the avionics test bench has been upgraded to include actual flight controls. Glare testing on the display screens and aircraft windows also is underway, as is human factors testing of the cyclic and collective stick, buttons, and switch heads, not just for functionality, but to ensure they convey a tactile “premium feel,” Hill said. PRODUCTION PLANNING While continuing to focus on development, Hill already is well into planning for production. “The large demand for the aircraft is putting significant pressure on us to make sure our production facility is ready and it’s capable of scaling up to deliver the number of helicopters in the timeframe that we need,” Hill said. “In parallel with all of the activities that are going on from an engineering perspective, we’ve been pushing through all of the planning applications that are required. They’ve all been submitted and are awaiting a decision from the local government [at Creswell, UK]. We’ve got detailed design underway for the manufacturing system. We’ve also now started the procurement exercise for the major chunks of production equipment that we need to deliver all of these processes in-house.” Hill also recently struck a deal to host the Stoke-on-Trent [Staffordshire, UK] air ambulance at its headquarters heliport. “We’re not paying for the air ambulance itself, but we’ve offered to host the charity at our facility and provide the heliport, fuel, and crew facilities they need. That will dramatically cut the response time for emergency medical services for people in and around Staffordshire and our factory site,” Hill said. “One of my core philosophies is that for a business to be successful, everybody needs to be successful. That means the people that work for us, our customers, and also our neighbors. The Stoke-on-Trent area and the surrounding villages have struggled for many years to gain access to an air ambulance in the UK.” Community relations aside, the tedious work of aircraft development continues at Hill Helicopters. “I’m under no illusions what we have in front of us,” Hill said, while effusing confidence in the mission. “We can build the aircraft that people want, we can make it look the way you want, we can make it perform the way you want, and we can deliver it at a price point that you can afford. These [new manufacturing] processes fundamentally allow us to make a step change in what you’ve been used to because we can deliver both the performance and safety at that price point. That’s what all of this effort has been about. “Now it’s just work.” Hill Helicopters Tops 700 Orders Joby flies towards 2025 commercial launch with final assembly of eVTOL Rebecca Bellan@rebeccabellan 7:00 AM CST•February 14, 2023 Comment Image Credits: Joby Aviation Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) company Joby Aviation has taken another step on its path to start a commercial air taxi service by 2025. The company said Tuesday that it’s begun final assembly on its “company-conforming” eVTOL, which is essentially a prototype that’s a couple steps away from the final version. Joby expects to begin flight testing for the aircraft in the first half of this year. The technological milestone comes a week after Joby completed the second stage of a process with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to achieve type certification for its aircraft for commercial passenger use. Joby says it’s making moves on the final three stages of that process, as well. Type certification would mean the FAA approves Joby’s aircraft design and all component parts. It also signifies the design is compliant with the agency’s standards for airworthiness and noise. After that, Joby will need to achieve production certification, which will allow Joby to mass produce its eVTOLs under the FAA-approved designs. In getting to the point of final assembly, Joby had to put in place an intense quality management system that includes tracking and documenting every part on the aircraft, design drawings used to manufacture aircraft components, environmental conditions during fabrications and actions taken by manufacturing technicians. Didier Papadopoulos, head of aircraft OEM at Joby, said the steps Joby has taken to produce a company-conforming aircraft, including the quality management system and regular FAA reviews, brings the company closer to receiving its production certification. Joby has already built the major structures of the aircraft, like the wing, tail and fuselage, and will now fuse everything together and install wiring, electronics, actuation and propulsion systems. The aircraft will be the first one produced at Joby’s pilot manufacturing facility in Marina, California. That facility is designed to prove out Joby’s manufacturing process through low-rate manufacturing and is capable of producing tens of aircraft per year, according to the company. Joby is already using the facility to build and assemble parts for future aircraft. When it comes to more scaled manufacturing, Joby is currently in the market for a location for its Phase 1 production facility. The company says it’s actively reviewing proposals from a number of states keen to boost manufacturing and create jobs. Joby flies towards 2025 commercial launch with final assembly of eVTO Researchers may have just future-proofed turbines in the aerospace and energy industry. Researchers have come up with a new way to use 3D printing to make a new superalloy. Christopher McFadden Created: Feb 13, 2023 10:02 AM EST Superalloy (Photo) Craig Fritz/Sandia Labs A group of researchers has developed a new superalloy resistant to high temperatures. This could if ever brought into production, prove revolutionary for the future of turbines. At present, steam turbine blades, bearings, and seals are made of metal that tends to soften and elongate well before its melting point, which is one issue restricting the output of today's power plants. If these issues are resolved, it is possible to increase the temperature of anything that uses a steam turbine to convert heat into electricity. SEE ALSO This would increase its efficiency and decrease waste heat. However, a new high-performance superalloy that can be printed in three dimensions by scientists at Sandia Labs, Ames National Laboratory, and Iowa State University is said to be stronger and lighter than the most advanced high-temperature alloys now in use. This substance is an example of a "multi-principal-element superalloy," or MPES. It comprises 42 percent aluminum, 25 percent titanium, 13 percent niobium, 8 percent zirconium, 8 percent molybdenum, and 4 percent tantalum. Multi-principal-element alloys have higher concentrations of three or more elements than most alloys, mostly made of one main element and small amounts of other elements to improve certain properties. The research team claims that a wide range of these alloys exhibits excellent potential in metrics like strength-to-weight, fracture toughness, corrosion and radiation resistance, wear resistance, etc. However, the MPES subset this team has investigated performs exceptionally well in high-temperature conditions. According to the researchers, this finding suggests a more significant class of MPES materials just waiting to be studied and have exciting immediate promise in energy and aerospace. They warn that more improvements in 3D printing technology are needed before they can reliably make large parts out of these alloys without microscopic cracks and that the feedstock contains some expensive metals that will make it hard to scale up this particular MPES for use in applications where cost is a top priority. MOST POPULAR “With all those caveats, if this is scalable and we can make a bulk part out of this, it’s a game changer,” says Sandia scientist Andrew Kustas in a press release. “We’re showing that this material can access previously unobtainable combinations of high strength, low weight, and high-temperature resiliency. We think part of the reason we achieved this is because of the additive manufacturing approach,” he added. You can view the study for yourself in the journal Applied Materials Today. Study abstract: “Materials are needed that can tolerate increasingly harsh environments, especially ones that retain high strength at extreme temperatures. Higher melting temperature alloys, like those consisting primarily of refractory elements, can greatly increase the efficiency of turbomachinery used in grid electricity production worldwide. Existing alloys, including Ni- and Co-based superalloys, used in components like turbine blades, bearings, and seals, remain a performance limiting factor due to their propensity, despite extensive optimization efforts, for softening and diffusion-driven elongation at temperatures often well above half their melting point. To address this critical materials challenge, we present results from integrating additive manufacturing and alloy design to guide significant improvements in performance via traditionally difficult-to-manufacture refractory alloys. We present an example of a multi-principal element alloy (MPEA), consisting of five refractory elements and aluminum, that exhibited high hardness and specific strength surpassing other known alloys, including superalloys. The alloy shows negligible softening up to 800°C and consists of four compositionally distinct phases, in distinction to previous work on MPEAs. Density functional theory calculations reveal a thermodynamic explanation for the observed temperature-independent hardness and favorability for the formation of this multiplicity of phases.” Researchers may have just future-proofed turbines in the aerospace and energy industry Cessna’s SkyCourier Gets Down And Dirty With New ‘Gravel Kit’ By Mark Phelps - Published: February 7, 2023 Updated: February 9, 2023 Image: Textron Aviation - Cessna Textron Aviation announced today (February 7) it now offers an optional “gravel kit” for its utility Cessna SkyCourier turboprop twin. The kit enables operators to use unimproved runways around the world. First deliveries of aircraft equipped with the kits will begin later this month. Lannie O’Bannion, senior vice president of sales and flight operations, said, “The addition of this new gravel kit greatly enhances the already rugged reliability of the SkyCourier. Cessna aircraft have been moving people and critically-needed goods in and out of remote areas for decades, and this new capability allows SkyCourier customers to operate in some of the world’s most demanding environments.” The SkyCourier is powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65SC turboprop engines driving McCauley Propeller C779 110-inch aluminum four-blade propellers, with full feathering with reversible pitch. Maximum cruise speed is more than 200 knots true and maximum range is 900 nautical miles. The SkyCourier cockpit features Garmin’s G1000 NXi avionics. According to Textron Aviation, the new gravel kit for the SkyCourier “paves the way [their pun, not mine] for further use in global markets by a variety of customers, including government agencies, law enforcement and militaries, air ambulance operators, freight haulers, corporations and humanitarian organizations. Cessna’s SkyCourier Gets Down And Dirty With New ‘Gravel Kit’ Boeing-Rolls Short-Inlet Flight Tests Show Potential To Cut Big Fan Drag Guy Norris February 15, 2023 The heavily instrumented inlet was tested at angles of attack in excess of 27.8 deg. Credit: Rolls-Royce The bigger the fan and bypass ratio of a turbofan, the quieter and more efficient the engine. But these benefits diminish as increased nacelle weight and drag degrade the fuel-burn advantages of the larger bypass. To help counter this conundrum, Rolls-Royce and Boeing teamed up under the second phase of the FAA’s Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) environmental research program to flight-test a shorter and lighter inlet. The newly revealed results of the six-year program show the potential for significant benefits with fuel savings of about 0.5% and weight savings in excess of 350 lb. per shipset for a typical widebody application. • Inlet could cut fuel burn by 0.5% • UltraFan is to use shorter inlet Shortening an inlet is challenging: It must retain sufficient length to operate efficiently over the entire flight envelope of the aircraft and to channel freestream airflow evenly to the fan and compressor regardless of different speeds, altitudes and maneuvers at high angles of attack or sideslip. The inlet design is therefore critical to engine performance, and any change to the profile of the lip and distance to the fan face must be carefully considered to avoid distorting the flow into the engine or reducing the total pressure recovery of the compressor. “The short inlet, in essence, performed to design intent,” says Ash Owen, chief engineer for civil technology programs at Rolls-Royce. “The fan was free of aerodynamic instabilities at all conditions, and the fan blade vibration levels remained as baseline. So for both the key requirements that we were evaluating the short inlet for it was fine.” Flight tests took place in late 2022 using Rolls-Royce’s Boeing 747-200 flying testbed and formed the culmination of the three-phase program, which began in 2016 with design and analysis of the short inlet on a 112-in.-dia.-fan Trent 1000. Ground tests followed in 2018 at Rolls-Royce’s facility at the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center and compared the short and baseline nacelles over a series of crosswind runs. “It was very successful,” Owen says. “So much so that we took the decision with Boeing that it would be a good idea to go to the next step and fly it. The short inlet—reduced in length by around 50% compared to the standard unit—was fitted to the heavily instrumented Trent 1000 for the test program, which amassed almost 7.5 hr. of flight time. “We did takeoff work, cruise, and importantly, we did high-angle-of-attack work,” Owen continues. “We were particularly interested to see if we were going to get any undesirable lip flow interaction. We didn’t at all, and the results compared with a flight with the baseline inlet.” Testing included taking the engine to a maximum angle of attack of more than 27.8 deg. at the inlet. “We did three short-inlet flights and one baseline flight because we also had, of course, all of the Trent 1000 certification data we could use as well for the baseline,” Owen says. “The aerodynamic performance was as we expected, and that’s particularly crucial for us because we wanted to compare it back to the computational fluid dynamics analysis. Also the fan blade vibration levels were similar to the baseline and acceptable.” The short inlet was evaluated on a Trent 1000 mounted on the left inboard engine position of Rolls-Royce’s Boeing 747-200 flying testbed in Tucson, Arizona. Credit: Rolls-Royce According to Rolls-Royce’s assessment, the short inlet has now been demonstrated for a Trent-type application to TRL 6, a technology readiness level in a relevant environment that prepares the way for full-scale development. Boeing’s evaluation of the lighter structure and reduced wetted area of the nacelle indicates potential fuel-burn savings of up to 0.5%. The program clears the way for Boeing to consider shorter inlets for future products or reengining, although that would require further tests for the impact on fan noise—much of which in current engines is absorbed by special surface treatments in the inlet area. “Clearly, we expect short-inlet technology to be required for the UltraFan,” Owen says, referring to the company’s next-generation geared turbofan—the demonstrator for which is poised to begin ground tests. “That’s the next stage of the journey from our perspective. We would anticipate short-inlet technology being required for an engine the size of UltraFan purely because the fan diameters are so great.” The CLEEN effort is therefore seen as de-risking the short inlet for the UltraFan, but more study work will be needed for flow interaction with the larger engine’s slower-speed advanced fan. “From the work we’ve done, we see no problems going into the UltraFan,” Owen says. The Boeing-Rolls work under CLEEN comes after Pratt & Whitney also evaluated a short-inlet design for the smaller PW1100G geared turbofan during an earlier phase of the FAA program. Boeing-Rolls Short-Inlet Flight Tests Show Potential To Cut Big Fan Drag Spirit AeroSystems signs 10-year contract with Center Industries Stephanie Nutt WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Spirit AeroSystems has signed a 10-year contract with Center Industries. “A 10-year contract award is not normal, and we don’t give it out lightly,” Senior Vice President of Fabrication and Chief Procurement Officer at Spirit AeroSystems Alan Young said. “Center Industries’ performance has helped make that an easy decision.” According to Spirit AeroSystems, 75% of Center Industries’ workforce has a documented disability. Kansas Tourism announces $400k available in attraction development grants Young says Center Industries will be building and assembling the window belt for the 737 Max right here in Wichita. “The window belt is a large part, and there are logistical challenges with moving it, so having it in Wichita is a big advantage to us,” Young said. Young says the quality of work Center Industries produces is fantastic. “Center Industries are a local supplier and a very valued supplier,” Young said. “Their quality is world-class, their delivery on time is world-class, they’re competitive, and, importantly, they’re very agile with the customer, which is us.” Young says Center Industries built its first window belt back in 1982. “We know them quite well,” Young said. “A very good reputation that they’ve maintained that whole time.” Central Industries currently has open positions. For more information, click here. Spirit AeroSystems is also hiring. To apply, click here. Spirit AeroSystems signs 10-year contract with Center Industries A TBM 700 Experiences A ‘Torque-Induced Stall Roger Cox February 13, 2023 ADS-B position data with altitude and airspeed depicts the flight of the TBM 700. Credit: NTSB The left-turning tendency of propeller driven airplanes is no secret. Student pilots learn about P factor and experience that left turning tendency on every takeoff, even in small training airplanes. However, when those novice pilots move up to much more powerful airplanes like the Daher (Socata) TBM 700 single-engine turboprop, the performance can catch them by surprise. The left turning tendency of the airplane when it is in a high-thrust, low-speed flight regime is very strong. That’s what happened to a TBM 700 in Lansing, Michigan, on Oct. 3, 2019. The airplane, registration N700AQ, crashed during an attempted go-around from an approach to Capital Region International Airport (LAN). When the pilot applied thrust, the airplane banked to the left and stalled, striking the ground 0.3 mi. west-northwest of the approach end of Runway 10R. The pilot and four passengers were killed and the airplane was wrecked. One passenger survived. Three (3) parts: A TBM 700 Experiences A ‘Torque-Induced Stall,’ Part 1 https://aviationweek.com/business-aviation/safety-ops-regulation/tbm-700-experiences-torque-induced-stall-part-1 A TBM 700 Experiences A ‘Torque-Induced Stall,’ Part 2 https://aviationweek.com/business-aviation/safety-ops-regulation/tbm-700-experiences-torque-induced-stall-part-2 A TBM 700 Experiences A ‘Torque-Induced Stall,’ Part 3 https://aviationweek.com/business-aviation/safety-ops-regulation/tbm-700-experiences-torque-induced-stall-part-3 Curt Lewis