June 8, 2020 - No. 041 In This Issue Montenegro Air Force Signs Purchase Agreement for Two Bell 505s Purdue Airport staff transform glider into airplane, then back to glider. Concerns in biodiesel industry raised over sustainable aviation fuel regulation Brussels Airport selected by EASA for COVID-19 monitoring programme Bye Aerospace to expand eFlyer family with six-to-nine-seat model. WTTC supports ICAO 'Takeoff' Guidelines for safe flying Rolls Royce navigates path to net-zero emissions by mid-century After E-Fan X: civil aviation's electric dream lives on Carbon Recycling Offers Hope for More Sustainable Air Travel. SpaceX rings in Falcon 9's 10th anniversary with a rocket reusability first. 'Silent Wings:' How Local Military Gliders Contributed to D-Day Invasion. Montenegro Air Force Signs Purchase Agreement for Two Bell 505s Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. company, announced that the Montenegro Air Force has signed a purchase agreement for two Bell 505 Jet Ranger X's. These new aircraft will be used to train the Montenegrin military pilots. The agreement also provides that Bell will provide training for three pilots in France and eight technicians at its Bell Training Academy in Fort Worth, TX. The helicopters will be delivered out of our Bell-owned service center in Prague. "We are proud to provide the Montenegro Air Force with exceptional products and services. The Bell 505 is a phenomenal aircraft to train new military pilots," said Duncan Van De Velde, managing director, Europe and Russia. "We thank Montenegro's Air Force for continuing to grow its fleet with Bell aircraft. The Bell 505 will be a great addition to its program." The Bell 505 continues to have major success within Europe and other parts of the world. The aircraft includes a high-tech flight deck and adaptable cabin design making it extremely cost-competitive, and capable for any challenge. With the latest integrated Garmin avionics suite and dual channel FADEC, the aircraft provides increased situational awareness and safety allowing pilots to focus on training. "We are proud to have the newest Bell 505 military trainer that is equipped with the latest technology in the Balkans Region," said Colonel Nenad PAVLOVIC, Montenegro Air Force. "These aircraft will enable our pilots to better perform their public safety and other missions and to help protect our citizens." With a speed of 125 knots (232 km/h) and useful load of 1,500 pounds (680 kg), the Bell 505 is designed to be safe and easy to fly while providing significant value to the operator. The customer-driven design of the aircraft places safety, performance and affordability at the forefront, blending proven systems with advanced technology and a sleek, modern design. The Bell 505s will be manufactured by Bell Textron Canada at their facility in Mirabel, Quebec. The sale was facilitated by the Canadian Commercial Corporation through a government-to-government contract. CCC supports the growth of international trade by helping Canadian exporters gain access to foreign government procurement opportunities. https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/rotorcraft/press-release/21141111/bell-montenegro-air-force-signs-purchase-agreement-for-two-bell-505s Back to Top Purdue Airport staff transform glider into airplane, then back to glider Staff from the Purdue Polytechnic Institute's School of Aviation and Transportation Technology (SATT) collaborated with aircraft manufacturer Pipistrel and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to convert a glider aircraft into an airplane. The reconfigured aircraft trains disabled, would-be pilots through the Able Flight program. Before the coronavirus pandemic shut down nearly every element of human interaction, Purdue had been gearing up for the summer session of Able Flight, a program for aspiring pilots with physical disabilities. Able Flight is a non-profit organization based in Chapel Hill, N.C., which works with Purdue's SATT to provide men and women with disabilities the opportunity to attain a pilot license. Past Able Flight participants include people who are hearing-impaired and many who ambulate with the help of wheelchairs. These types of disabilities tend to slow people down as they interact on the ground; however, in the air, the aircraft treats everyone as able-bodied. Purdue was looking forward to hosting this summer program for the eleventh consecutive year. "It normally takes between nine months and a year for a member of the general public to get a pilot's license," said Jonathon Ziulkowski, a senior lecturer and the flight operations quality assessment manager at Purdue. "But the Able Flight program offers participants a chance to earn their sport pilot license in just eight weeks. It's a very worthwhile program." The summer Able Flight program is based on the use of light sport aircraft, which are also known as "LSAs." They are generally two-seat aircraft, with a maximum weight of 1320 pounds, a maximum speed of 138 mph, and are perfectly fit to the mission of Able Flight program because the planes are small, lightweight and can be easily adapted for use. LSAs require a Sport Pilot Certificate (license) to operate. Sport pilots do not need an FAA medical certificate to fly an aircraft. They can use their current driver's license as proof that they are medically fit to operate these LSA aircraft. "Purdue had only one light-sport aircraft in our fleet of training aircraft, which left us reliant on the donation of additional aircraft for use during the summer for Able Flight," said Ziulkowski. This year, Purdue was working to identify a light sport aircraft with a side-by-side seating arrangement to accommodate the training of a deaf student who needed to easily communicate with the flight instructor. As part of his "flight ops" responsibilities, Ziulkowski was reviewing the SATT's assets and their utilization, when he encountered a glider that had been donated to the Purdue Soaring Club in 2014. "It was being used, but generally was not being used over the summer months, when the majority of students were not on campus for summer break," Ziulkowski said of the glider. The glider had been built by Pipistrel, an aircraft company headquartered in Slovenia. "Our Pipistrel Sinus is a motor-glider that's powered with an engine, so it's different from most gliders that people tend to think of," said Ziulkowski. "It self-launches instead of requiring a tow plane to lift it into the air. Then, once the glider reaches the proper altitude, the pilot shuts off the engine to glide." The Pipistrel Sinus craft is lightweight, motorized and - also unlike most gliders - features side-by-side seating for a pilot and student. Ziulkowski immediately saw its potential as a light sport aircraft for the Able Flight program. He worked with the glider's manufacturer in Slovenia and with contacts at the FAA to gain approval to physically modify the glider into a light sport airplane. "Gliders have long wingspans, so Pipistrel swapped out the wing tips for a shorter pair, reducing the overall wingspan by eight feet," said Ziulkowski. "Pipistrel also provided directions to deactivate the ability for the propeller to be stopped from spinning mid-flight." These modifications are not permanent, so the light sport airplane can be retrofitted to its original glider status. "The equipment swap takes about 30 minutes and the paperwork required by the FAA takes another 30 minutes. We go from a glider to an airplane in about an hour," Ziulkowski said. Ivo Boscarol, founder and president of Pipistrel Group, is pleased with the innovation. He dubbed the revised Pipistrel glider, the "Sinus Max." "For the last 30 years, we have always developed aircraft in ways to make them accessible to as many pilots as possible worldwide, regardless of different legislation, local restrictions or individual preferences," said Boscarol. "We are proud that such an esteemed organization as the Purdue University aspires to be our launch customer for this concept and expect that other academies across America will likely follow suit." Ziulkowski credits everyone involved with being open-minded to the innovation. "The Sinus Max now gives Purdue the ability to support Able Flight, without having to bring in new aircraft for our instructors and staff to learn in a short period of time," Ziulkowski said. "Additionally, we are excited to make use of this aircraft that would normally not be used during the summer." https://polytechnic.purdue.edu/newsroom/purdue-airport-staff-transform-glider-airplane-then-back-glider Back to Top Concerns in biodiesel industry raised over sustainable aviation fuel regulation Waste-based biodiesel producers and associations using lipid feedstocks such as used cooking oil (UCO) have reacted to the European Commission's new legislative framework to promote sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) initiative. The organisations said they believed this would play a significant role in the much-needed decarbonisation of the air transport sector. But in the letter they said that if the Commission proposes to shift resources from on-road to aviation this could damage the industry and hit investment in waste biodiesel plants. They also fear this would send a negative policy uncertainty signal to investors in other novel technologies, effectively hampering further investments in much-needed sectors. The letter added: "At the same time, we strongly believe that the Commission should consider the EU transport sector as a whole and in consequence support the best solutions to reach the maximum overall emissions reduction. In this context we would like to express our deepest concern regarding the Commission plans to indiscriminately promote SAF at the expense of other parts of the EU transport sector, and in particular the road sector, as recently outlined in an inception impact assessment with the title Sustainable aviation fuels - ReFuelEU Aviation. "We believe that any measure specifically mandating or disproportionately advantaging SAF produced from waste biodiesel feedstocks and road HVO (UCO and animal fats), would inexorably thwart the 'near-term decarbonisation' that our industry is bringing to the EU road transport sector with extremely negative consequences for our companies located in numerous EU member states." The letter added: "Waste-based biodiesel cannot be used as an aviation fuel due to its cold-flow properties. In consequence, any measure creating mandates or disproportionate incentives for the use of UCO and animal fats for aviation purposes eliminates any hope for a level playing field and would give a critical economic advantage to technologies using waste feedstocks such as UCO and animal fats to produce SAF." The group said they were happy to send a delegation to meet with the Commission to discuss their concerns. Among the organisations that backed the letter included SABIO FUELS, PRIO, Argent Energy and Greenergy Fuels. https://biofuels-news.com/news/concerns-in-biodiesel-industry-raised-over-sustainable-aviation-fuel-regulation/ Back to Top Brussels Airport selected by EASA for COVID-19 monitoring programme Brussels Airport (BRU) has been selected as one of the pilot airports by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for implementing operational recommendations linked to COVID-19. EASA has set up a monitoring programme of its recommendations in which several airports set the example in implementing and following certain measures and, thus, helping to develop new best practices in the face of COVID-19. The pioneering airports commit to abiding by the EASA guidelines that are drawn up in consultation with both European aviation and public health authorities (including the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)) and to look for practical solutions for the aviation industry in this unprecedented crisis. Brussels Airport is ready for the safe restart of commercial aviation. The health measures implemented at the airport are in line with EASA's recommendations and the airport continues to work on improving sanitary safety, including looking for new technologies and measures that can offer a solution during this unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. Over the past few months, Brussels Airport has introduced several sanitary measures to welcome passengers in a safe way and to ensure, as much as possible, the protection of the health of the few 100 passengers a day who had to take a plane for their essential travel. Social distancing, hand hygiene and the wearing of a face mask are the major elements. As non-essential travel will be allowed again shortly, Brussels Airport is implementing additional measures. CEO of Brussels Airport, Arnaud Feist, said: "Brussels Airport is preparing actively for an expected increase in passenger traffic as soon as intra-European borders will open up again. Systematic body temperature controls of the passengers will be set up as from 15 June 2020. This control is in addition to all the health measures already taken to allow passengers to travel at ease." Additional health measures that are being/set to be implemented at the airport include: Body temperature checks - Brussels Airport will install thermal cameras in front of the departures hall to check all passengers before they enter the terminal. For arriving passengers, a mobile body temperature monitoring unit will be put in place. Persons with a body temperature of more than 38°C can be denied access to the terminal Access to the terminal - persons who are not travelling themselves or are not working at the airport will not be allowed to enter the terminal Social distancing - social distancing must be observed at all times. Additional markings and signage has been put in place in view of increasing passenger traffic in the coming weeks and additional queueing barriers will also be set up in the terminal Hygiene, UV sanitising technology and disinfection robot - Hand sanitiser dispensers are available around the terminal and the cleaning and disinfection frequencies for baggage trolleys and the trays at security screening has been increased, as well as the sanitary blocks and the general infrastructure. Frequently touched surfaces - such as vending machine keyboards and door handles in the sanitary blocks - will be given a self-disinfecting coating that kills bacteria and viruses. Another novelty is the use of UV sanitising technology to disinfect trolleys and the use of a robot to disinfect the floors. With all these measures, Brussels Airport intends to provide a clean and hygienic infrastructure to its passengers, as well as contribute to a safe and carefree trip. https://www.internationalairportreview.com/news/118273/brussels-airport-easa-covid-19-monitoring-programme/ Back to Top Bye Aerospace to expand eFlyer family with six-to-nine-seat model Bye Aerospace is planning to expand its family of eFlyer all-electric aircraft with a six- to nine-passenger model that could take on traditional executive turboprops and light business jets. While details of the new programme are being kept under wraps, chief executive George Bye says the aircraft is currently in the concept design phase. "We are very excited about this project and will announce its publicly before too long." He says the "momentum is growing" for low-cost and sustainable products, and electric aircraft "perfectly fill that niche". Entry into service of the new model "is several years out", Bye says, by which time battery technology will have improved dramatically, giving the aircraft the necessary range and performance to compete in this sector. "Battery technology is getting better all the time, as work on our current [aircraft] programmes proves," says Bye. Its debut model, the eFlyer 2, finished its critical design phase in early June, and Bye says the company will start assembling the first production-conforming aircraft before the end of the third quarter. The firm, based in Denver, Colorado, has been flight testing a proof of concept version of the two-seat aircraft since April 2018 "and invaluable feedback from the campaign has been incorporated into serial number 1," says Bye. Changes include widening the cabin by 10.2cm (4in), to 1.2m, lengthening the wing by just over 1.2m, to 11.6m, adding winglets, and replacing the clamshell doors with a gullwing design. Three production-conforming aircraft will take part in the flight-test campaign, with US Part 23 certification scheduled for mid-2021. The eFlyer 2 is powered by a 120hp (90kW) Rolls-Royce RRP70D electric motor, delivering speeds of over 135kt (250km/h) and an endurance of over 3h. "The motor weighs 26kg, is 95% efficient and operates on the eFlyer 2's 750v battery system," says Bye. The choice of propeller supplier is still under consideration, he adds. The all-composite eFlyer 2 is targeted at owner-flyers and training schools, and pitched against the Cessna 172 and Piper Archer. "The eFlyer 2 is vastly cheaper to operate than these established designs," says Bye, citing a cost per flight hour of $23, compared with around $110 for the piston-engined pair. "By lowering the cost of operation so drastically, pilot training and private flying will become accessible to so many more people." Similarly, the in-development eFlyer 4 will offer a "highly cost-efficient and sustainable alternative to advanced trainers and short-haul air taxis," Bye says. Operating costs for the four-seat model - which is in its preliminary design phase, and scheduled to enter service around a year after the eFlyer 2 - will be around $30 per flight hour against $150 for similar-sized models such as the Cessna 182 and Cirrus SR22. The latter has established itself as an air taxi with companies including Imagine Air in the USA and Fly Aeolus in Europe. "We have already received tremendous interest in the eFlyer 4 as an air taxi, with the model accounting for a large share of the 330-strong eFlyer orderbook," says Bye. Customers declared include US start-up Quantum Air, which announced an order last year for 26 aircraft, of which 22 are eFlyer 4s, and on-demand charter marketplace BlackBird with a commitment for up to 100 aircraft. Details of the eFlyer 4's powerplant have not been disclosed, but Bye says the aircraft will have cruise speed of 175kt and an endurance of 5h. The aircraft will also have a full-fuel equivalent payload of 400kg (850lb) and feature an airframe ballistic recovery parachute "for added safety". https://www.flightglobal.com/business-aviation/bye-aerospace-to-expand-eflyer-family-with-six-to-nine-seat-model/138705.article Back to Top WTTC supports ICAO 'Takeoff' Guidelines for safe flying LONDON, UK - The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has welcomed the approved guidelines to safely restore global air connectivity, devised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). ICAO's COVID-19 Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) has worked with governments, health experts and industry stakeholders to agree and publish comprehensive recommendations for a layered approach of measures to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission while traveling by air. The measures are contained in ICAO's 'Takeoff: Guidance for Air Travel through the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis'. They complement WTTC's recently announced Safe Travels protocols, which were designed to drive the return of safe travel and enable industries such as tour operators, hotels, hospitality, travel companies, car rentals, MICE, retail and others, to thrive once again. WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, recognises ICAO guidelines due to the strictly regulated nature of the aviation sector generally and airlines in particular, and strongly supports the 'Takeoff' guidelines. The WTTC Safe Travels stamp will recognise and could be used by countries and destinations that adopt the Safe Travels protocols and the ICAO Takeoff guidelines for aviation. CART's work was developed through broad-based consultations by ICAO with countries and regional organisations, and with important advice from the World Health Organization and key aviation industry groups including the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Airports Council International (ACI World), the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), and the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations (ICCAIA). Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: "The safety and hygiene measures taken across the travel experience will be key to rebuild the confidence of travellers and restarting the Travel & Tourism sector. "The leadership shown by ICAO's Secretary General, Dr Fang Lui and the President of the ICAO Council, Salvatore Sciacchitano, in the CART process gives the aviation sector the global approach it needs to align its many participants with measures which reassure travellers by reducing the risks of COVID-19 transmission. "We congratulate ICAO on developing this critical guidance for aviation in cooperation with key industry associations, including IATA and ACI. We now urge governments to adopt them and best practices as quickly as possible, so we can save a sector that is already in a fight for survival." Evidence from WTTC's recently released Crisis Readiness report, which looked at 90 different types of crises in the last 20 years, highlights the importance of public-private cooperation and the implementation of standardised protocols to reduce the time to recover. According to WTTC's 2020 Economic Impact Report, during 2019, Travel & Tourism was responsible for one in 10 jobs (330 million total), making a 10.3% contribution to global GDP and generating one in four of all new jobs. https://www.traveldailynews.com/post/wttc-supports-icao-takeoff-guidelines-for-safe-flying Back to Top Rolls Royce navigates path to net-zero emissions by mid-century Rolls Royce has pledged to become a net-zero carbon business by mid-century, while developing new products and technologies that allow the hard-to-abate aviation, power, shipping and rail industries to decarbonize in the same time frame. The company last week said it joined the Race to Zero campaign, a new United Nations-backed initiative that aims to draw net-zero commitments from private and state actors in the lead-up the COP26 climate conference, set to be held in November 2021 in Glasgow after a year-long, COVID-19-necessitated postponement. Rolls Royce announced it will publish a roadmap this year that sets out how it plans to align its business with the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius, including proposals for reaching net-zero emissions across its operations by 2030 and its wider footprint 20 years later. It will reach the shorter-term target by transitioning its facilities' power on to renewable energy, pioneering closed-loop manufacturing techniques on high-value metals, and developing microgrids to support its estate. Rolls Royce CEO Warren East said the company was ready to address the "big, complex challenge" posed by meeting tough global climate targets, despite the damage the pandemic had wrought on global transport industries. "The COVID-19 pandemic has brought immediate and obvious pressures to our industry and to us as a company, but the long-term challenges our world faces have not gone away," he said. "The world on the other side of this pandemic will need the power that we generate to fuel economic recovery. I absolutely believe the call for that power to be more sustainable and net zero will be stronger than ever. Answering that call is a big, complex challenge, and few companies on the planet are better placed than Rolls-Royce to help." East added: "We will use our capabilities to play a leading role in enabling the vital sectors in which we operate achieve net zero emissions by 2050. I believe this ambition will drive our competitiveness for the future." Nigel Topping, the United Kingdom's high-level climate action champion for COP26, commended Rolls-Royce's new commitments. "Rolls-Royce is positioning itself to meet huge growth in demand for net-zero transport and power," he said. "As a company operating in some of the hardest-to-abate sectors, this a big act of industrial technology leadership." The jet engine manufacturer has been affected by the coronavirus shutdown of air travel, confirming earlier last week that it would be cutting 3,000 jobs across the U.K., as part of a program of cost savings it is making in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In May, it announced that it would be cutting as many as 9,000 jobs across its operations as it slashed its production numbers for the years to come. However, the company said today that it still intended to play a leading role in allowing the sectors it operates in to curb their carbon footprints. A sweeping program of low-carbon research and development will focus on improving the energy efficiency of its engines; collaborating with the fossil fuel industry to boost the availability of alternative lower carbon fuels; and developing small, affordable modular nuclear power stations able to meet future low-carbon energy needs quickly. The company, which also joined the Business Ambition for 1.5 campaign today, also reiterated its previous commitment to play a pioneering role in the nascent electric aviation industry. https://www.greenbiz.com/article/rolls-royce-navigates-path-net-zero-emissions-mid-century Back to Top After E-Fan X: civil aviation's electric dream lives on When Rolls-Royce and Airbus jointly announced the cancellation of their E-Fan X hybrid electric aircraft project at the end of April it seemed fair to ask whether this was an early sign of the aerospace sector abandoning its much-touted low carbon ambitions in the face of a COVID-19 induced battle for survival. But as Rolls-Royce engineer Riona Armesmith, who heads up the company's hybrid electric projects, told The Engineer, whilst the experimental aircraft may not be taking the skies as planned, the technologies developed and lessons learned through the initiative have positioned the UK firm at the forefront of a field that remains key to the sector's future. E-Fan X was originally launched in 2017 as part of a drive to explore how new technology could help reduce emissions and ensure that the sector can continue to grow whilst meeting a host of increasingly demanding environmental targets. "I believe in our post-COVID 19 world that people will still want to fly and see other people and make new discoveries....and when the market is ready, the drive to sustainable aviation will resume." - Riona Armesmith - Rolls-Royce Whilst a number of smaller electric aircraft have been developed - including the two-seater Airbus E-Fan - the aim of E-Fan X was to explore the application of hybrid electric technology to a larger passenger aircraft by developing a flying test-bed demonstrator aboard a 100-seater Bae 146 short-haul airliner. The project would have seen one of the aircraft's four existing turbofans (LF-507 engines) replaced by a 2MW electric motor driven fan as part of a serial hybrid propulsion system. This was to be powered by a 2.5MW generator, consisting of a gas turbine and associated 3000V power electronics system, housed in the fuselage of the aircraft. The aircraft's remaining three engines would operate as normal, thereby enabling the team to test the hybrid system without relying on it to stay in the air. Armesmith said that whist she actually envisages simpler parallel hybrid systems entering the aviation market first, developing a serial hybrid system of this kind, where the turbine is used purely to generate electric power for the motor, enabled the engineering team to get to grips with a greater range of challenges. "You learn everything from doing a serial hybrid and you solve far more of the challenges so we can step back to parallel hybrid having worked though all of the challenges." As well as reducing emissions, she added that a serial hybrid configuration also opens up some interesting longer-term opportunities to fundamentally redesign aircraft. "Because you're not trying to install huge gas turbines under the wing of an aircraft, and electric fans are not as hot as gas turbines, closer integration between the aircraft and the engine is more possible." This could lead, for instance, to aircraft with smaller wings that are better suited to operating from smaller airfields; thereby creating opportunities to reshape transport networks. Getting to that point, however, is a monumental challenge, and - said Armesmith - an order of magnitude more difficult than developing the kind of hybrid technology now widely used in the automotive sector. "It's really about weight," she said. "The energy density of batteries is not really comparable to kerosene. Also, if you're replacing a mechanical system (a gas turbine which drives a fan) with a fan which is driven by a motor which is fed by cables, power electronics, switches, and then into a generator and into another set of power electronics and into a gas turbine, you're adding a lot more complexity into that system." Whilst the system won't now fly as intended, Rolls-Royce plans to complete ground-tests of an integrated system later this year. Meanwhile, a number of key technological milestones have already been reached. On the Airbus side, the company has carried out extensive wind tunnel testing on scale models of the aircraft as well high power battery system testing at facilities in France. And whilst its E-Fan X activities have come to an end, Airbus CTO Grazia Vittadini recently confirmed that technologies developed through the project are already feeding into research at the firm's E-Aircraft System Test House, a facility originally set up as part of E-Fan X. Meanwhile Rolls Royce has already carried out extensive testing of its 2.5MW generator at a specialist facility in Trondheim, Norway as well as completing testing of a full-scale, flight-representative thermal management rig, and developing a control system for controlling the engine and electrical equipment together. Reflecting on some of the key lessons learned throughout this process Armesmith said that one of the biggest challenges was the development of the electric distribution network that forms the connection between the 3000V DC power generation system, the high voltage battery and the electric motor. "At 2MW of power we've got to push up the voltage otherwise the current would be absolutely enormous and the cable to carry that current would be enormous and the forces due to that current would be unmanageable," she explained. With the highest voltage system flying today 270V DC, developing a 3000V system presented a huge step up and raised a number of significant challenges. One of these relates to the effects of a phenomenon called Paschen's Law, which observes that the voltage required to break through insulation reduces with altitude, therefore making phenomena like arcing and corona more likely. This has led to a lot of work on insulation systems. "Protection, insulation and separation is our strategy on this," said Armesmith, "we're testing a lot of components at the moment to deal with this." Another key challenge has been producing and integrating the wide variety of bespoke components required for such a novel system, many of which - Armesmith explained - simply aren't available off the shelf. "We've had to build everything from scratch. We're pushing the laws of physics on developing these components and integrating them into the system. We're trying to replace a gas turbine in a nacelle with an electric motor firing a fan. How do you package all of that? How do you support that motor with the oil you need to lubricate it? How to do you take the heat out of the motor? Where do you put that heat? How do you integrate the heat exchanger? How do you insulate your control systems? How do you route your cables? Where does all of your instrumentation go? It has been really challenging to package all of that neatly into the shape of gas turbine." Unsurprisingly scaling all of the components down to aerospace specification in a system like this presents some pretty acute thermal management challenges, and the group has also made some key advances here. "Any time you touch anything electrical you generate loss which generates heat," said Armesmith. "If you convert AC to DC that's lossy, if you transmit the power that's lossy. We're having to make sure the cables aren't too hot, and we're having to take heat out of the motors, the batteries, and the power electronics. When you're at 2MW even with equipment that's 98 per cent efficient, that's a lot of heat to take out." She added that dissipating heat from electrical equipment is particularly challenging because of the relatively low temperatures involved, and the low temperature difference (Delta T) between the system and the ambient temperature. "The difference here is that a gas turbine is usually really hot and you're taking heat out from very high temperatures to ambient air. The electrical equipment doesn't like to be very hot - you're looking at temperatures of 100 - 200oC and dissipating that heat is really hard." More generally, the project has also helped Rolls-Royce engineers develop their understanding of the exceptionally complicated relationship between electricity and thrust on an aircraft. "If you look at electric cars the torque is massive," she said. "And you still get that from a motor on an aircraft, but you've got a big inertia on the fan. It then reacts against that in an electrically driven fan, so if you're thinking you're going to get quick acceleration then maybe you won't because of the aerodynamics of the fan. Fan engineers are really interested in all of this because it's making them go back to first principles." Clearly, there's a big difference between testing all of this in a laboratory on the ground and taking it into an aircraft, and there are undoubtedly lessons that won't now be learned. But Armesmith is currently focused on the upcoming ground testing program (set to take place at a new testbed facility in Bristol later this year) which will see the team test a system that integrates a 2.5MW generator powered by an AE2100 gas turbine engine, a 3,000V distribution system, plus new power control and thermal management systems. And the legacy of this work will - she said - be hugely important. "We will have a complete integrated power and thermal management system that is fully integrated and ground tested. That means we will be in a great position whenever anyone is ready to create a hybrid-electric demonstrator vehicle - we will be ready to go. By fully testing the power generation system on the ground we will have enough knowledge to be very well advanced to integrate that further into a future aircraft." It's hard to know exactly what further lessons would have been learned, or indeed whether the project would have reached its original planned conclusion, if Covid-19 hadn't struck. And whilst the initiative's cancellation will certainly be seen by some as a major setback on the path to low carbon flight, Armesmith believes that, in the longer term, the case for green aviation will be stronger than ever. "I believe in our post-COVID 19 world that people will still want to fly and see other people and make new discoveries, and they will possibly be even more aware of our environment. And when the market is ready, the drive to sustainable aviation will resume. Hybrid-electric will be part of that movement and we will be ideally positioned to be a pioneer." https://www.theengineer.co.uk/e-fan-x-aviations-electric-dream/ Back to Top Carbon Recycling Offers Hope for More Sustainable Air Travel The airline industry has woken up to a new reality under the COVID-19 pandemic, with fears of viral infection during travel layering over concerns about the role of jet fuel in the climate crisis. Nevertheless, there are signs that the aviation sector is beginning to recover, and so are the prospects for sustainable air travel. Speeding up the jet biofuel process for more sustainable air travel The airline industry has been working its way toward a biofuel solution, but progress has been slow, and scale is still a problem. In addition to technology barriers, the fuel certification and safety process can spin out over years. A tipping point does appear at hand, however. This year, ASTM International, the agency that certifies jet fuel, introduced a "fast track" process for biofuel producers with guidance from the Federal Aviation Administration. The first such formula to achieve certification under the new process involves the gasification of municipal solid waste, forest waste and other biomass in a blend with fossil fuel. Investment by oil and gas stakeholders is also playing a role. One interesting example is Chevron. Some energy industry observers suggest the company has fallen behind other fossil fuel companies in the wind and solar power generation fields, but its Chevron Lummus Global venture has partnered with the firm Applied Research Associates to develop a 50-50 blend of petroleum and waste grease for jet fuel. The formula won ATSM approval in February and plans are in the works to produce it at scale for markets in the U.S. and Japan. Recycling carbon from unconventional sources Both of these projects involve unconventional sources for biomass. That represents a significant step up from the current practice, which depends heavily on cultivating biofuel crops on agricultural land. Biomass is a form of carbon recycling, so another step up would be to deploy sources that convert carbon more efficiently than crops or forest waste. That explains the interest in algae, which can convert carbon much more efficiently than other plants under the right growing conditions. ExxonMobil has been active in the area of algae biofuel in partnership with the firm Synthetic Genomics. The field has also enjoyed support from the U.S. Department of Energy. Commercial prospects seem distant. However, the growing urgency of climate action may restart interest in market-worthy algae-based fuels, as algae farming can provide a means of capturing and recycling carbon directly from power plants and other industrial operations. Scaling up new technology In contrast to Exxon's foot-dragging, the tar sands oil company Suncor provides an example of the sharp pivot that some fossil companies are making into commercial biofuel with a high-tech carbon recycling twist. Suncor has joined with the Japanese financial firm Mitsui in a combined $25 million biofuel venture called LanzaJet, which is an offshoot of the biotech firm LanzaTech. All Nippon Airways is also participating in the venture. LanzaTech has developed a "robust" microbe-based carbon recycling process that deploys living organisms to digest waste gas, with substantial assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy. Under the new partnership, LanzaJet will build a 10 million gallon-per-year demonstration plant in Georgia, with an additional $14 million in assistance from the Energy Department. The plant is expected to begin operations in 2022. Suncor and Mitsui have also developed a novel "phased investment" plan aimed at spurring interest among other investors in additional facilities, on an accelerated timeline. Years of work lie ahead as the airline industry unpacks its dependence on fossil fuels. However, the industry is moving forward even in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. The accelerated jet biofuel certification process, the use of more sustainable feedstocks, the carbon recycling angle and the scale-up of investor interest in new technology all point the way to more sustainable air travel as the global health crisis eases. https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2020/carbon-recycling-offers-hope-more-sustainable-air-travel/120516 Back to Top SpaceX rings in Falcon 9's 10th anniversary with a rocket reusability first Today is the tenth anniversary of SpaceX's inaugural Falcon 9 launch, marking a decade of largely uninterrupted success that the company has rung in with a record-breaking Starlink launch and rocket landing. Just one day shy of the occasion, booster B1049 lifted off on its fifth orbital launch and Falcon 9's 86th launch overall, successfully placing the eighth batch of 60 SpaceX Starlink satellites in orbit and becoming the first booster ever to complete five orbital-class launches and landings. Designed to fly no fewer than 10 times each, that means that SpaceX is already half of the way to achieving a major goal of the rocket's Block 5 upgrade just 24 months after its launch debut. With Starlink-8 under its belt, Falcon 9 B1049 has officially become the fastest orbital-class rocket or spacecraft in history to perform five launches, beating out Space Shuttles Columbia (~27 months), Challenger (~24 months), Discovery (~22 months), Atlantis (~26 months), and Endeavour (~29 months) with launches in ~20 months. Over the 10 years it's been operational, thanks in large part to the unprecedented leaps SpaceX has made while independently developing booster reusability, Falcon 9 has become the most affordable source of large orbital launches and has come to dominate the commercial launch market and the company's lead is only likely to grow in the coming years. Lifting off just hours after SpaceX completed Port Canaveral recovery operations with the first astronaut-proven Falcon 9 booster (B1058), B1049's fifth successful launch and landing means that the company will soon be able to attempt the sixth launch of an orbital-class booster for the first time ever. All but guaranteed to support one of the 20-24 Starlink missions SpaceX has planned for 2020, B1049 could be ready for its sixth launch as early as late July or August. Just like the booster's two prior launches, B1049 was carrying a ~16 metric ton (~35,000 lb) batch of 60 Starlink communications satellites. Thanks to Falcon 9's exceptional cost-to-performance ratio and the rapid expansion of Starlink launch activities, SpaceX's workhorse rocket has already launched almost 450 metric tons (~1 million lb) of satellites and cargo into orbit over 10 years of service and 85 launches. If things go according to plan, the Starlink launch campaign SpaceX needs to complete the massive satellite constellation will rapidly double (and almost triple) the total mass SpaceX has placed in orbit. The first major phase of 4400 satellites - currently 9.5% complete - will collectively weigh more than 1100 metric tons (~2.5 million lb), while the combined second and third phases will raise that by almost a full magnitude. Falcon 9 may forever be famous thanks to the leaps it's made in reusability, affordability, and reliability, but it will likely end up being best known for its foundational role in the deployment of SpaceX's vast Starlink internet constellation within a few years. After B1049.5 safely returns to Port Canaveral aboard drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) sometime next week, SpaceX can offload the rocket, transport it to a nearby hangar, and begin preparing it for launch #6 - a first for the company. If SpaceX can average 90-day turnarounds for the booster over its next several flights, B1049 could potentially become the first Falcon 9 first stage to achieve its 10-flight design goal before the end of next year. Meanwhile, SpaceX is already preparing to launch its next (ninth) Starlink mission as early as June 12th, beating the pad's current turnaround record by almost three days (~25%). All things considered, a full decade in, SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket are just getting started. https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-falcon-9-10th-anniversary-rocket-record/ Back to Top 'Silent Wings:' How Local Military Gliders Contributed to D-Day Invasion June 6th, 1944, the start of "Operation Overlord," better known to millions as "D-Day," when the Allied Forces began their assault on German forces located on the western front of Europe. The Supreme Commander of Allied Forces was General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who gave words of encouragement in his D-Day speech to the troops headed to France. Though much has been chronicled about those beach landings, the paratroopers and the air support of bombers and fighters, few remember or have heard about the men assigned to the fleet known as "Silent Wings," the military gliders. Because of their close proximity to the following events, Lockport, Joliet and Romeoville all share in the credit for the beginnings of the United States Military Glider program. Owner Stan Corcoran moved his headquarters of the Frankfort Sailplane Company from Frankfort, Michigan to Joliet in the early 1940's. Stan Corcoran's aircraft was designed to soar and stay aloft for hours on end, using the popular thermal currents found here in the flatlands of the Midwest. In 1941, before America entered World War II, the U.S. Army Air Corps began a glider program to develop pilots capable of using these engineless aircraft in assaults. The government sought both a 9-seat and 15-seat glider from the Frankfort Sailplane Company. Although their experimental aircraft failed to meet the military stress test the Army Air Corps did find that Frankfort's "Cinema I" sailplane was ideal for training pilots and so they gave the first-ever military contract for gliders to Frankfort Sailplane. Stan Corcoran, the designer, who was originally from Hollywood, California, liked to name his gliders "Cinema." Frankfort Sailplane manufactured about 60 of these planes and they were dubbed TG-1A's, short for a one-seat training glider. These pilots would later learn how to handle the heavier and bulkier Waco CG-4A Gliders used in the D-Day invasion. A short distance from Joliet are Lockport and Romeoville, the site of Lewis University. Before it became a university, it was just a high school with an enrollment of 15 students and was first known in 1932 as Holy Name Technical School whose curriculum specialized in aviation technology. It was operated by the priests of the Chicago Archdiocese of the Catholic Church, with the land donated by a couple from Lockport. Later named the Lewis School of Aeronautics to honor its philanthropist, Frank J. Lewis, the airfield became famous as a site of national soaring contests prior to the war and was referred to as the Frankfort-Lewis School of Soaring, in Lockport. Lewis Aeronautical suspended classes in 1942 and handed the campus over to the U.S. Navy as a training site for their WWII Navy pilots using powered aircraft. Almost 6,000 men became glider pilots during WWII because Frankfort Sailplane originated the military glider pilot program. As a matter of fact, one of Stan Corcoran's TG-1A training planes is on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. General William Westmoreland put it best about the glider pilots. He remarked; "They were the only aviators during WWII who had no motors, no parachutes, and no second chances." http://www.wspynews.com/news/local/silent-wings-how-local-military-gliders-contributed-to-d-day-invasion/article_4633b00c-a7a9-11ea-b8af-6fe37dac615f.html Curt Lewis