Aviation Week reports that groundings of Pratt & Whitney-powered Airbus A320neos “are climbing fast as operators remove engines for accelerated inspections recommended by the manufacturer and mandated by regulators.” The percentage of the PW1100G-powered Airbus fleet “on the ground stood at 19% at the end of September, or 267 aircraft out of 1,378 in the global fleet, an Aviation Week analysis shows.” The figure “is a 6% jump compared to August 31’s figure of 175 aircraft out of 1,358, the data show.” Mandates issued “by the FAA and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) gave affected operators until late September to remove the first batch of engines flagged for inspections.” The initial batch “consisted of about 140 engines, Pratt said when it unveiled its fleet management plan to address potential cracks in certain high-pressure turbine disks and high-pressure compressor integrally bladed rotors (IBR).
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Tag: powered
AIAA Marks First Flight on Another Planet
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 19, 2021 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) marks today’s historic first flight of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher issued this statement:
“What an amazing sight – an aircraft flying over Mars! The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter made the first ever powered, controlled flight on another planet today. Congratulations to our corporate member, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the whole Ingenuity team. Your innovative and inspirational thinking continues shaping the future of aerospace.
“We all know the story of Orville and Wilbur Wright taking a huge risk and proving to the world that heavier-than-air, powered flight was possible. Today, we saw how taking off-world risks proves anything is possible. From this day forward, we’ll remember 19 April 2021, at Jezero Crater, Wright Brothers Field, Mars, just as we have remembered 17 December 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Earth.
“Earlier this year, we watched the Perseverance rover’s landing on Mars, carrying Ingenuity onboard and showing us what your motto – Dare Mighty Things – means. We are eager to witness the team achieve the next mission milestones, especially Ingenuity’s next test flight. There’s more work to do as we accelerate our off-world future. Go Ingenuity! Go Perseverance!”
First Video of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicpoter in Flight
AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270.
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.
NASA Shares Video of Ingenuity’s First Flight on Mars
The Washington Post reports that NASA “shared the full video of its Ingenuity helicopter’s flight on the surface of Mars on April 19. Engineers also shared a reconstruction of the flight as well as photos from chopper’s landing camera.” Florida Today reports that the flight “was captured on several cameras including a video camera on the Perseverance rover, which was standing by.” Over the “next few days, the helicopter team will receive and analyze all data and imagery from the test and formulate a plan for the second experimental test flight, scheduled for no earlier than Thursday.”
Full Story (Washington Post); More Info (Florida Today)