Tag: engineering

Aeronautic Groups Recognize Record Tamarack King Air Flight

Aviation International News reports, “A Beechcraft King Air 350 equipped with Tamarack Aerospace active load-alleviating winglets set two records during flights to and from Orlando, Florida, for NBAA-BACE 2022.” The records have now been recognized by the National Aeronautic Association and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. The first flight was “2,032.8 nm nonstop from Spokane, Washington, to Orlando on Oct. 15, 2022, in 7 hours 46 minutes.” During the second flight “six days later, the King Air flew 1,770.7 nm from Orlando to Las Vegas – with a stop in Albuquerque – in 8 hours 8 minutes due to strong headwinds.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)

SpaceX Makes Space Coast’s 66th Launch of the Year

The Orlando (FL) Sentinel reports, “SpaceX chalked up another Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to mark the Space Coast’s 66th launch of the year.” A Falcon 9 carrying “23 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites lifted off from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:20 p.m. Monday.” The booster launched “for the 17th time, the third time SpaceX has flown one of its boosters 17 times, although one has flown 18 missions.”
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel)

 

Video

SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral
(Spaceflight Now; YouTube)

Virgin Atlantic Jet Powered by 100% SAF Lands After Maiden Transatlantic Flight

Reuters reports, “A Virgin Atlantic passenger jet powered by 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) successfully completed a London-to-New York jaunt on Tuesday in an effort to showcase the potential of low-carbon options that currently make up a tiny fraction of the industry’s fuel mix.” Although it carried no passengers, “the flight, operated by a Virgin Boeing 787 powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, is the first time a commercial airliner has flown long haul on 100% SAF.” In a statement, Virgin Atlantic founder Richard Branson said, “It’s going to take a while before we can get enough fuel where everybody’s going to be able to fly. But you’ve got to start somewhere.”
Full Story (Reuters)

German Air Taxi Firm Lilium Receives EU Approval for Electric Vehicles

CNBC reports, “Lilium, a German air taxi firm, has received regulatory approval to design and operate its electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, the company said Monday.” Lilium was “awarded ‘Design Organization Approval’ by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, a special condition license that grants the company the ability to design and manufacture its aircraft in lieu of formal rules for the industry having been agreed and implemented.” The Lilium Jet “uses multiple small propellers driven by electric motors to provide lift during takeoff and landing, as well as thrust during the cruise phase.”
Full Story (CNBC)

Starship’s Second Launch Spread Less Debris Than its First

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bloomberg reports that SpaceX’s second test flight “of its massive deep-space Starship rocket spread significantly less debris around the surrounding area than the vehicle’s first flight in April, though the crowds who flocked to the launch site had their own impact on the nearby terrain.” The US Fish and Wildlife Service “conducted an assessment of the Boca Chica, Texas, area after Starship’s launch, which took place from SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility in South Texas on Nov. 18.” The flight “achieved significantly more milestones than the first launch, including keeping the area much cleaner.”
Full Story (Bloomberg)

Embraer CEO Touts Company Future

Aviation International News reported that Embraer CEO Francisco Gomes Neto spoke at Embraer’s Media Day presentation in New York on Friday and “said the company is now reaping the harvest from the investments and changes it made in recent years.” He pointed “to the portfolio of new products the Brazilian manufacturer has introduced over the past decade in its commercial, defense, and private aviation markets.” This portfolio “includes the E-Jets E2, the C-390 Millennium military transport, and, on the private aviation side, the Praetor family and upgrades to its Phenom light jets.” He explained that Embraer currently “employs a staff of 100 engineers committed to developing production efficiencies and cost reduction, which has allowed it to not only maintain margins on its products but even increase them in some cases.” One of the company’s “standing projects is to reduce the production time of its aircraft by 30 percent by the end of 2025.”
More Info (Aviation International News)

AIAA Statement on SpaceX Starship Test Flight

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 18, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher:

“Congratulations to the SpaceX team on today’s test flight of Starship from Starbase, Texas. It is exciting to witness a new launch vehicle achieving so many of its test objectives toward reaching orbit. The art and science of engineering requires testing and taking risks to understand the limits of systems and where designs should be improved. This test flight is a valuable learning experience, especially around the performance of its boosters. We look forward to seeing the team’s progress toward enhancing this new space launch capability and flying again.

With Starship, SpaceX is taking a step toward humans living and working off our planet. Flight tests, taking risks, and pushing new technologies that are still in development will lead to this future.

We are excited to see commercial space launch companies advancing technology in the cislunar ecosystem and pushing on to Mars. Expanding the boundaries leads to success.

AIAA recognizes the countless industry professionals who have helped design, build, and test Starship. We applaud AIAA Corporate Member SpaceX for taking this step forward in shaping the future of aerospace.”

AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

ULA Prepares for First Vulcan Centaur Launch

The Orlando (FL) Sentinel reports that United Launch Alliance “has its missing rocket piece in hand at Cape Canaveral and all systems are go for a Christmas Eve launch to mark the debut of its Vulcan Centaur rocket.” A new Centaur upper stage “arrived by barge to the Space Coast on Monday, a replacement for the stage ULA originally planned to fly on the Certification-1 mission this past May.” That initial flight, “already delayed for nearly two years, was again put on hold after an issue with a test version of the Centaur stage was destroyed amid a massive fireball in the spring, requiring design changes to ensure a repeat didn’t happen during actual liftoff.” ULA has been anxious “to get this debut launch off the ground with its primary payload of Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lunar lander, part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services missions.” The lander “traveled from Astrobotic’s headquarters in Pittsburgh arriving to the Space Coast on Oct. 31.”
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel)