John was editor of Aviation Week's ShowNews for nearly two decades. He retired in 2020. His background in business journalism before joining Aviation Week includes stints at Reuters, the American Banker daily banking newspaper and as business news editor at the Milwaukee Journal and the Cincinnati Enquirer.
A lifelong aviation enthusiast, John has been a private pilot for 34 years and won an award at EAA Oshkosh for his restoration of a vintage British Auster army spotter aircraft. He is currently building a 1920s Staaken Flitzer biplane from plans. John attended his first Farnborough Air Show in 1952, when just eight months old.
China’s Comac C919 airliner will be the first in the world with a truly integrated propulsion system (IPS), which effectively replaces the traditional nacelle, combining new and pioneering technologies in a single package to reduce fuel burn by as much as 1-1.5%. That savings comes in addition to the CFM International Leap X1C engine, which is expected to bring 15% in fuel savings, compared with the best engines in service today.
Abu Dhabi’s goal of building up an aerospace industry will take another step forward when its brand new Strata Manufacturing facility delivers its first composite parts to Airbus in October. “Construction is finished, manufacturing trials are underway and a second batch of workers is being trained” for the ramp-up in production, said Homaid Al Shemmari, associate director for business development and director of aerospace at Mubadala Development, the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government.
GE Aviation Services has joined the fuel savings battle with its ClearCore environmentally friendly engine washing system, going head to head with Pratt & Whitney’s EcoPower wash. Pratt & Whitney estimates that if every airline in Europe washed its engines twice a year they would slash carbon dioxide emissions by 1 million tons and cut fuel consumption by around 1%. It also could lower exhaust gas temperatures by as much as 12-15%, meaning the engine can remain longer on wing and defer shop visits.
