Tag: aircraft

Sikorsky Performing Flight Trials for VTOL Tail-Sitter UAS

Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, is carrying out flight tests to mature the control laws and aerodynamics of a novel vertical takeoff and landing uncrewed aerial system (VTOL / UAS). The flight tests aim to prove the efficiency and scalability of a twin proprotor ‘rotor blown wing’ configuration, designed to sit on its tail to take-off and land like a helicopter, and transition easily to horizontal forward flight.”
Full Story (Unmanned Systems Technology)

HAL to Produce Forgings for CFM International LEAP Engines

FlightGlobal reports that Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) and Safran have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for HAL to produce engine forgings for CFM International LEAP engines at its foundry and forge location in India. The MoU “calls for Indian company to produce engine forgings for the LEAP engine at its foundry & forge location in Bengaluru, says HAL.” The LEAP series “is produced by CFM International, a joint venture between GE Aerospace and Safran.” Safran Aircraft Engines CEO Jean-Paul Alary said, “We are delighted to expand our collaboration with HAL, which is already part of the LEAP supply chain through our joint-venture in Bengaluru dedicated to the production of aero-engines pipes.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal – Subscription Publication)

European Airlines Say Sustainable Fuel Goals Could Lead to Higher Fares

Reuters reports, “European airline chiefs said on Thursday the industry needs to make more money and may consolidate further to pay for sustainability targets, a trend likely to lead to higher fares for passengers on top of rising demand for air travel.” The EU “has adopted rules requiring flights departing from EU airports to carry a progressively increasing amount of SAF, starting with 2% of total fuel in 2025.”
Full Story (Reuters)

NASA Deploys PC-12 for Advanced Air Mobility Trials

Aviation International News reports that NASA is “deploying a Pilatus PC-12 for test flights in the Cleveland area as part of its work to pave the way for the autonomous operations envisaged for the advanced air mobility sector.” The flights began Thursday and will run through June 25, with the agency’s pilots “following roadways over Cleveland, Lodi, Mansfield, and Medina in Ohio to test communications technology expected to be used by eVTOLs and other new air vehicles.” NASA’s PC-12 “has been fitted with monitors to measure cell tower signal strength at various altitudes in urban, suburban, and rural areas. It will fly no lower than 1,000 feet in populated areas and no lower than 500 feet outside towns.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)

NASA’s X-57 Program Concludes with No Flight

Aviation Week reported that after struggling for years “with a variety of technical problems and setbacks, NASA has decided to conclude its X-57 Maxwell electric aircraft demonstrator program at the end of September without attempting a flight.” The program “announced its decision on June 23 on a conference call with reporters.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Airbus Seeing New Materials Shortages Emerge in Aerospace Supply Chain

Aviation Week reports that “Airbus is seeing new materials shortages emerge in the aerospace supply chain as other issues that have dominated in recent months begin to settle down.” Airbus Chief Operating Officer Alberto Gutierrez told ShowNews at the Paris Air Show that there are “new difficulties with raw materials, particularly aerospace steel.” According to Aviation Week, “steel is used in some aircraft parts that are exposed to particularly strong forces, such as the landing gear, and it is also used in castings and forgings.” Gutierrez said that the lead time for steel orders “used to be eight months – now it is 20 months.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Boeing Partners with Aurora to Enhance KC-46A Pegasus’ Defensive Capabilities

Janes reports that The Boeing Company announced at the Paris Air Show on June 20 that it will partner with “Aurora Flight Sciences to enhance the defensive capabilities of its KC-46A Pegasus tanker-transport aircraft.” Boeing said that Aurora Flight Sciences is “leading the research and conceptual design of composite components geared at enhancing operational survivability for aerial refuelling and mobility missions. … This work will also focus on producibility and manufacturing at Aurora’s Columbus, Mississippi, manufacturing facility.” According to Boeing, the KC-46A Pegasus “already features defensive systems and data integration for multimission aerial refuelling support closer to the battlespace than existing tankers.” Boeing said, “With more data for the crew and fleet, including recent Block 1 upgrades to further enhance connectivity, the Pegasus can see and relay threat information to joint force warfighters for greater fleet survivability and mission success.”
Full Story (Janes)

Lockheed Martin Picks GE’s CF6-80E1 Engine to Power its LMXT Tanker

Breaking Defense reports that Lockheed Martin has chosen “GE Aerospace’s CF6-80E1 engine to power the aerospace giant’s LMXT tanker pitch for the Air Force, the two companies announced” Tuesday. Larry Gallogly, Lockheed Martin’s campaign director for the LMXT, said during a briefing with reporters, “We have endeavored through our supply chain to make sure we were getting the absolute best bang for the buck, so to speak, and providing the best engine for the LMXT. We’re very happy to announce that competition is now complete, and we have selected an iconic United States company, General Electric, to provide the CF6-80E1 engine for the LMXT.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)

Dassault’s First Falcon 6X Business Jet Enters Service

Aviation International News reports Dassault announced that on November 30, the company’s “Falcon 6X began flying for its new owner. … Dassault did not reveal the identity or location of the 6X launch customer.” The 6X, with a maximum range of 5,500 nm, was launched in February 2018 “after the 5X program was canceled due to problems with the in-development Safran Silvercrest engine. The 6X is 20 inches longer than the 5X, to accommodate the 6X’s more powerful Pratt & Whitney PW812D engines.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)

Japanese Authorities Hand Over Pieces of Wreckage from USAF Osprey Crash

The AP reported, “Japanese authorities handed over pieces of the wreckage from an U.S. Air Force Osprey that crashed off southwestern Japan to the U.S. military on Sunday, as the search continued for seven missing servicemembers.” The wreckage “had been collected by a ship from the regional coast guard headquarters and by fishers from the town of Yakushima since the CV-22 aircraft crashed into the water near the town Wednesday during a training mission to Okinawa.”
Full Story (The AP)

Airbus Creeps Towards Full-Year Delivery Goal with 18% Year-Over-Year Increase for October

Reuters reports that Airbus “needs to deliver 161 aircraft in the last two months of the year to reach its full-year delivery target, fractionally below the performance seen in the closing stages of last year.” Airbus’ monthly bulletin “confirmed it had delivered 71 aircraft in October, up 18% from the same month last year and bringing the total for the first 10 months to 559 jets.” In the final “two months of 2022, Airbus delivered 166 jets.” Agency Partners analyst Sash Tusa “wrote in a note that the company was not expected to change its full-year delivery target of 720 aircraft despite pressure on supplies of Pratt & Whitney engines.” Airbus last year “lowered and eventually abandoned its delivery goal due to supply constraints and started 2023 on a weak note, before deliveries accelerated over the summer.”
Full Story (Reuters)

Airbus Is Hiring Thousands of Workers for Aircraft Production Increase

Reuters reports that Airbus is better prepared for the challenge of securing enough people to handle jet production increases than it was before the pandemic, a senior executive said. The European planemaker plans a two-thirds increase in production of best-selling A320neo-family single-aisle jets to 75 a month in 2026 from 45 now. In Germany, its second-largest base, Airbus plans to hire 3,500 staff for the second year in a row to handle the ramp-up and feed projects on decarbonization and industrial systems.
Full Story (Reuters)

Airbus and Boeing Seek High-Skill Talent in India

Bloomberg reports that The Boeing Company and Airbus “are increasingly looking to India for highly-skilled, low-cost engineers to meet a boom in demand for aircraft and expand their manufacturing presence in the world’s fifth-largest economy.” Airbus is looking to hire 1,000 people in India in 2023, out of 13,000 globally. Boeing already employs approximately 18,000 people in India, including its suppliers.
Full Story (Bloomberg)

KF-21 Succeeds in Breaking Sound Barrier

Aviation Week reports that the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-21 test-flight program “has passed another milestone as the aircraft reached Mach 1 for the first time since taking to the skies in July 2022.” This marks the first time a South Korean-built aircraft has broken the sound barrier.
Full Story (Aviation Week)

How Airports Can Prepare for Future Electric Aircraft Operations

Aviation Today reports that engineering firm WSP “has taken the lead in assisting airports in the preparations for electric aircraft. With electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles on the horizon, WSP is working closely with clients to integrate these groundbreaking advancements into their master plans.” A significant project currently underway “is WSP’s collaboration with Philadelphia International Airport, where they are incorporating provisions for a state-of-the-art vertiport facility into the airport’s master plan update.” This approach “demonstrates the airport’s commitment to embracing advanced air mobility and ensuring seamless integration of eVTOLs into their operations.” WSP is also “spearheading the master plan for the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, which encompasses the redevelopment of an existing vertiport to accommodate electric aircraft.”
Full Story (Aviation Today)