The European Space Agency has issued a call for proposals for an eighth Earth Explorer mission. Scientists will have until Dec. 1 to submit initial letters of intent for the mission, which is to be launched by 2018. Up to three candidates are expected to be short-listed. Six flights have been approved so far for the Earth Explorer program, which is intended to develop new Earth science technologies. Candidates for a seventh, to be orbited around 2016, are under review.
The P-8A, a maritime patrol/antisubmarine warfare aircraft, is a variant of Boeing’s 737-800 powered by two CFM56-7 turbofans rated at 27,000 lb. thrust each. The aircraft will succeed the Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion in U.S. Navy service. Boeing and the Navy formally unveiled the P-8A in July 2009, with flight-testing slated to begin later in the year. In all, five P-8As will take part in flight-testing, with the Navy planning to purchase 117 aircraft. Initial operational capability is planned for 2013. Production of an estimated 133 aircraft is forecast through 2018.
The M-346 is a two-seat, advanced jet trainer derived from the Yakovlev Yak-130. The aircraft is powered by two 6,250-lb.-thrust ITEC F124-GA-200 turbofan engines. First flight occurred in July 2004. Through 2008, three prototypes were produced. The United Arab Emirates ordered 48 M-346 trainers in February 2009. Initial M-346 deliveries are slated to begin late this year. A total of 104 aircraft are forecast to be built during the 2009-18 period.
In 1990, Beech teamed with Pilatus to propose the T-6A (based on the latter’s PC-9 Mk. II trainer) for the U.S. Air Force/U.S. Navy Joint Primary Aircraft Trainer System (JPATS) program. The T-6A was selected as the JPATS winner in 1995. The Air Force and Navy intend to acquire 782 T-6As; more than 300 have so far been delivered. The T-6A is powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68 turboprop engine rated at 1,100 shp.
A single-main-rotor helicopter with twin turboshaft engines driving a Kawasaki-designed main rotor gearbox, the aircraft incorporates the patented Notar (no-tail-rotor) system, including a circulation-control tail boom and internal variable-pitch fan. In early 2001, the company launched the Combat Explorer armed variant, specifically targeting the air arms of Latin America. The Explorer is already cleared to carry the GAU-19/A .50-caliber Gatling gun, the M2 .50-caliber gun pod, and 70-mm. Hydra rockets.
In 1991, two years after the U.S. withdrew from the Super 7 program, Chengdu began the FC-1 program. Pakistan and the People’s Republic of China signed an agreement in 1999 for FC-1 joint development and production. The first prototype flew in 2003. The single-seat air superiority and ground attack aircraft is powered by a single Klimov RD-93 afterburning turbofan (18,300 lb. thrust). A two-seat variant is also planned. Twelve aircraft have been built so far; 223 aircraft are forecast to be built in 2009-18.
Colombian carrier Avianca and El Salvador-based airline group TACA are planning to merge. Under a plan revealed last week, the two privately held companies initially will remain separate entities, with Avianca’s owner Synergy taking a two-thirds stake in the new parent company. TACA’s shareholders will hold the remaining third. Combined, the new entity will operate 129 aircraft to more than 100 destinations, and generate annual sales of $3 billion, the carriers’ top executives say. Roberto Kriete, TACA chairman and CEO, will head the new company.
As one reads about 50-year-old KC‑135s “Running on Fumes” (AW&ST Sept. 14, p. 56), it is easy to forget they are Boeing 707 derivatives that helped usher in the “jet age.” Since one can assume the KC-X also will fly for a half-century, does it make sense to start the next cycle with a 20-30-year-old design? The U.S. Air Force should demand an innovative design (X-48 or similar) instead of Boeing’s and Airbus’s trailing-edge technology.
Potentially raising the investment bar for other Airbus partner nations, France’s aerospace sector is looking to nearly double annual government funding for civil aeronautics research and development by plugging into a €10-billion ($14.6-billion) planned public bond issue. Narrow-body transports would be a primary target.
Airlines are employing cost-defensive buffers such as deferring non-required maintenance, using up surplus parts, burning down inventory and, where required, cannibalizing older aircraft for components with remaining life. David Stewart, a principal with AeroStrategy, predicts this could go on for another 12-18 months.
Boeing is working to overcome a series of newly unearthed 747-8 final assembly issues, forcing it to delay the program for a second time and triggering at least $640 million in additional costs.
Verizon Business has signed its second airline customer in a month to a complex IT management contract. The six-year commitment with JetBlue is to manage the airline’s IT data center and network as well as online security and IT consulting services. In addition, Verizon will transition JetBlue’s systems to a global IT infrastructure supporting airport kiosks, wireless Internet access and an advanced reservation system.
A single-engine, seven-seat, light utility helicopter, the 407 is powered by a Rolls-Royce Model 250-C47B turboshaft engine rated at 813 shp. Bell entered a Honeywell HTS900-powered 407 variant in the U.S. Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) competition, and that model (since dubbed the ARH-70A) was selected as the winner in July 2005. The program involves the procurement of 512 helicopters. Through 2008, 900 Bell 407s (military and civil) were built.
Aerospace and defense consultants at Forecast International expect the global turbine engine market to remain essentially stagnant through 2012, then rebound starting in 2013. In total, the world turbofan engine market is projected to generate $292 billion in revenue now through 2018 via production of 66,273 engines, according to the group’s analysis issued on Oct. 5. The business aircraft powerplant segment has been hit with a double whammy brought by the worldwide credit freeze and negative U.S. publicity about corporate jets.
A three-engine, medium-lift, multirole helicopter, the AW101 (formerly known as the EH101) has been produced in naval, military utility and civil versions. Team US101, a partnership comprising AgustaWestland, Lockheed Martin and Bell Helicopter Textron, developed a U.S. version of the AW101 for the U.S. Navy’s VH-71 presidential helicopter program. This version, designated US101, is powered by GE CT7-8E engines, rated at more than 2,500 shp. In June 2009, the Navy terminated the system development and demonstration (SDD) contract for the VH-71.
This family of single-main-rotor, single- and twin-engine utility helicopters has come in a variety of models, and built by Bell Helicopter Textron and several licensees. Models in production or forecast for delivery in the coming 10 years include the UH-1Y improved four-blade variant, with the first 10 units for the U.S. Marine Corps to be upgraded UH-1Ns and the bulk of the USMC acquisition (encompassing 113 units) to be new-production aircraft.
This twin-turboshaft-engine, single-main-rotor, multirole helicopter is powered by Turbomeca TM333-2B2 turboshaft engines rated at 1,000 shp. each. The first flight for a Dhruv equipped with twin Turbomeca Ardiden 1H engines took place in August 2007. The engine that is certified and built in India under the name of “Shakti” was certified in December 2007 by the European Aviation Safety Agency. Five 1H1 prototypes have been delivered since December 2008. Further developments led to creation of the 1,385-lb.-shp. Ardiden 1H1.
Medium-lift troop transport and antisubmarine warfare helicopter powered by either two GE T700-GE-T6E1 turboshafts rated at 2,040 shp. each, or two Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322-01/9 engines rated at 2,100 shp. each. Basic models include the Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH), which functions as a tactical troop assault transport and ground support aircraft capable of hauling 14-20 fully equipped troops, more than 2,500 kg.
EADS Astrium will build a pair of surveillance satellites for Kazakhstan and establish a venture to enable the nation to build its own satellites under a broad cooperation agreement with France. The satellite deal is the latest of a string of wins by European manufacturers in the remote-sensing field, including an Astrium sale to Chile in late 2008 and a Telespazio/Thales Alenia Space order from Turkey early this year. Further sales to Australia, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates are up for grabs.
Commercial applications of the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (Vasimr) engine under development by Ad Astra Rocket Co. may be possible as early as 2014, following the first full-power prototype test of the advanced space-propulsion system. Engineers at the company’s Houston facility reported a peak power output of 201 kw. for the VX-200 testbed in a thermal vacuum chamber, 1 kw. higher than the target. The Sept. 30 test marked the first time the two-stage plasma engine’s second stage achieved its full planned power rating.
The CN-235 passenger transport variants seat between 30 and 40 passengers or up to 53 paratroopers. The new, stretched C-295 carries up to 78 troops. The CN-235 is powered by two GE CT7 turboprop engines (the exact version depends on aircraft model), and the C-295 is powered by two 2,750-shp. Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127G turboprops. The first CN-235 prototype flew in 1983, followed by initial deliveries in 1986. First flight of the C-295 occurred in 1997, with deliveries beginning in 2001. Approximately 234 CN-235s and 49 CN-295s were produced through 2008.
A survey by the National Air Transportation Assn. (NATA) reveals that many of its members are challenged by interpretations of federal aviation regulations (FARs) that vary from one FAA inspector within one regional, aircraft certification and flight standards district offices to another. NATA estimates these differences of opinion and “re-interpretations” in complying with the regulations cost general aviation businesses hundreds of millions of dollars annually. “Inconsistent compliance interpretations of the FARs . . .
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is an antisubmarine-warfare/maritime patrol aircraft. Lockheed won a U.S. Navy ASW competition in 1958 and began deliveries of the P-3A in 1962. The improved P-3C first flew in 1968. Lockheed manufactured 647 P-3s, while Kawasaki built 101 under license. Although P-3C production stopped in 1997, the aircraft remains the subject of numerous upgrade programs. The P-3C is powered by four 4,910-shp. Rolls-Royce T56-A-14 turboprop engines.
A single-main-rotor, multipurpose naval helicopter, the SH-2F is powered by two GE T58-GE-8F turboshaft engines rated at 1,350 shp. each. The SH-2G is powered by two GE T700-GE-401 turboshafts rated at 1,723 shp. each. Through 2003,142 helicopters were built.
A transport aircraft intended to compete with the Boeing C-17. The An-70 has a high-wing design with four 14,000-shp. ZMKB Progress D-27 propfan engines with six-blade counter-rotating propellers. An An-70 prototype flew in 1994, and a second prototype flew in 1997. The An-70 effort took a hit after Russia pulled out of a deal to buy 164 aircraft, leaving Ukraine as the sole client. Only six aircraft are forecast to be completed through 2018.
