accelerating innovation · general aviation bizjet blended-wing intelligence / analysis / co mment...

PROPELLANTLESS SPACE DRIVES – FLIGHTS OF FANCY?

BOOM PLOTS RETURN TO SUPERSONIC FLIGHT

INDIA’S NAVAL AIR POWER

February 2017

www.aerosociety.com

A

ER

OS

PA

CE

F

ebru

ary 2017 V

olu

me 44 N

um

ber 2

Ro

yal Aero

nau

tical So

ciety

ACCELERATING INNOVATIONWHY TODAY IS THE BEST TIME EVER TO BE AN AEROSPACE ENGINEER

Have you renewed your Membership Subscription for 2017?

Your membership subscription was due on 1 January 2017. As per the Society’s Regulations all membership benefits will be suspended where a payment for an individual subscription has not been received after three months of the due date. However, this excludes members paying their annual subscriptions by Direct Debits in monthly installments. Additionally members who are entitled to vote in the Society’s AGM will lose their right to vote if their subscription has not been paid.

Don’t lose out on your membership benefits, which include:

• Your monthly subscription to AEROSPACE magazine

• Use of your RAeS post nominals as applicable

• Over 400 global events yearly • Discounted rates for conferences• Online publications including Society News,

blogs and podcasts • Involvement with your local branch • Networking opportunities • Support gaining Professional Registration• Opportunities & recognition with awards

and medals• Professional development and support

... and much more! Find out more ways to get involved and utilise your membership benefits:

[email protected]

How to renew:

Online: Log in to your account on the Society’s website to pay at www.aerosociety.com. If you do not have an account, you can register online and pay your subscription straight away.

Telephone: Call the Subscriptions Department on +44 (0)20 7670 4315 / 4304

Cheque: Cheques should be made payable to the Royal Aeronautical Society and sent to the Subscriptions Department at No.4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ, UK.

BACS Transfer: Pay by Bank Transfer (or by BACS) into the Society’s bank account, quoting your name and membership number. Bank details:

Bank: HSBC plcSort Code: 40-05-22Account No: 01564641BIC: MIDLGB2107KIBAN: GB52MIDL400522 01564641

With your support the Royal Aeronautical Society remains the world’s foremost professional institution dedicated to the entire aerospace

and aviation industry . . . Thank you!

1i f

NEWS IN BRIEF

FEBRUARY 2017@aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

Contents

Comment

Coming back to Earth with a thump

Regulars

Afterburner

Plane speakingInterview with Charles Champion, Airbus Executive VP Engineering.

Indian Navy upliftAn overview of the Indian Navy’s modernisation and acquisition programmes.

4 RadomeThe latest aviation and aeronautical intelligence, analysis and comment.

10 Antenna Howard Wheeldon looks at air traffi c management in the UK.

12 TransmissionYour letters, emails, tweets and feedback.

58 The Last WordKeith Hayward on the future propects for the US and international defence and aerospace industry under President Trump.

39

Features

Going nuclearThe US considers the options to modernise its nuclear arsenal.

A longer wait to leave?What impact might Brexit have on passenger transit times at UK airports?

19 32

28

Volume 44 Number 2 February 2017

Correspondence on all aerospace matters is welcome at: The Editor, AEROSPACE, No.4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ, UK [email protected]

3

Flights of fancy?Are recent claims to have discovered propellantless propulsion for spacefl ight fact or fi ction?

Baby boomersIs Boom Technology’s 45-seat ‘Son of Concorde’ supersonic jet design commercially viable?

22

Front cover: Airbus 2050 future concept aircraft. Airbus

14

While many are aware of the slowing of airliner orders from the giant deals of a few years ago, there are now signs that the civil UAV sector is hitting the buffers. Internet giant Google has scrapped its parent group Alphabet’s ‘Internet from the sky’ plan which would have used solar-powered UAVs from Titan Aerospace to provide low-cost broadband. It is not just ambitious, high-risk projects either. After massive growth, the consumer and civil drone sector is now under pressure. France’s Parrot, for example, reported a 15% drop in revenue and is to lay off 35% of its staff. 3D Robotics also laid off staff and closed a US factory last year. Start-up Lily Robotics, which launched an autonomous self-following quadcopter drone, has gone under. Even action camera specialists GoPro has had to recall its Karma drone due to battery issues. Why is this happening? One reason might be intensifi ed competition, particularly from massive drone manufacturer DJI with two-thirds of the market, whose huge volumes mean it can cut prices to put pressure on new entrants. Secondly, there is a realisation that, despite moves by regulators to open up airspace for civil UAS, viable business models remain a niche. While some commercial operators are quietly making progress, the hype is beginning to wear off claims of ‘urban delivery’ services just around the corner. Finally, it may be that the consumer UAV market has reached saturation point. Unlike perhaps a smartphone, not everyone wants (or needs) their personal drone. Reduced discretionary spending for consumers too, may mean that the novelty is beginning to wear off. This is not to say that UAVs will stop being arguably the most dynamic and innovative sector in aviation – but it does mean that there will be fewer gimmicky identikit quadcopters being launched. That really can be no bad thing and is a sign of this sector evolving and maturing.

Tim Robinson

[email protected]

Boo

m T

echn

olog

y

Airb

us

Can

nae

Editor-in-ChiefTim Robinson +44 (0)20 7670 4353 [email protected]

Deputy Editor Bill Read +44 (0)20 7670 4351 [email protected]

Publications Manager Chris Male +44 (0)20 7670 4352 [email protected]

Production Editor Wayne J Davis +44 (0)20 7670 4354 [email protected]

Book Review EditorBrian Riddle

Editorial Offi ceRoyal Aeronautical SocietyNo.4 Hamilton PlaceLondon W1J 7BQ, UK+44 (0)20 7670 4300 [email protected]

AEROSPACE is published by the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS).

Chief Executive Simon C Luxmoore

Advertising Simon Levy+44 (0)20 7670 [email protected]

Unless specifi cally attributed, no material in AEROSPACE shall be taken to represent the opinion of the RAeS.

Reproduction of material used in this publication is not permitted without the written consent of the Editor-in-Chief.

Printed by Buxton Press Limited, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AE, UK

Distributed by Royal Mail

AEROSPACE subscription rates: Non-members, £160

Please send your order to: Dovetail Services Ltd, 800 Guillat Avenue, Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne, Kent ME9 8GU, UK. +44 (0)1795 592939+44 (0)844 856 0650 (fax)[email protected]

Any member not requiring a print version of this magazine, please contact: [email protected]

USA: Periodical postage paid at Champlain New York and additional offi ces.

Postmaster: Send address changes to IMS of New York, PO Box 1518, Champlain NY 12919-1518, USA.

ISSN 2052-451X

34

Indi

an N

avy

US

AF

40 Message from our President

41 Message from our Chief Executive

42 Book Reviews

45 Library additions

46 Go for Gold!

48 The RAF Harrier in the

Cold War

50 Corporate Partners

52 Diary

55 Prestwick Branch STEM

project

56 RAeS Elections

57 Young Persons Forum

OnlineAdditional features and content are available to view online on www.media.aerosociety.com/

aerospace-insightIncluding: Leonardo MW looks to digital, rotary

future in UK, Baby boomers, Innovation and the

airliners of tomorrow, Perils of protectionism,

In the January issue of AEROSPACE,

Aviation book choices for Christmas

2016, Propulsion in the

new century.

4

Radome

AEROSPACE / FEBRUARY 2017

GENERAL AVIATION

Bizjet blended-wing

INTELLIGENCE / ANALYSIS / COMMENT

From US-based DZYNE Technologies comes this concept for a Blended Wing Body (BWB) aircraft – the Ascent 1000. Described as a ‘super regional jet’ for the 2025s, the 112-seat Ascent would burn 20% less fuel than today's airliners, thanks to its BWB effi ciencies. Interestingly, the company also forsees the Ascent also being turned into an ultra-spacious bizjet, with three times the fl oor space of comparable large business jets. DZYNE Technologies was awarded a NASA contract in 2016 to develop and defi ne the regional airliner BWB concept, as part of the Agency's fi rst batch of fi ve new X-Plane designs within its ten-year New Aviation Horizons programme.

Space invaderIn business jet

confi guration the Ascent would offer three-times more cabin space than

comparable large-cabin bizjets yet would still be

able to access smaller airports.

Scaling down the BWBTo scale down a blended wing airliner, DZYNE has moved the cargo areas and landing gear from underneath to alongside the central passenger cabin in the wings. By keeping passengers close to the centre, it should also mean that any vertical movement during turns for those on the outside is kept to an absolute minimum.

DZ

YNE

Tec

hnol

ogie

s

5FEBRUARY 2017fi@aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

DZ

YNE

Tec

hnol

ogie

s

A room with a viewThe Ascent 1000 would use composite construction, incorporating ceiling skylights to add natural light into the passenger cabin.

Cabin optionsIn 'super regional' layout the Ascent 1000 would feature between 112-130 seats with a twin-aisle cabin that is wider than an A380. Meanwhile, a spacious business jet confi guration could include a lounge, meeting room and even a bedroom.

6

Radome


NEWS IN BRIEF

After nearly three years the governments of Australia China and Malaysia have called off the offi cial underwater search for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 which disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people onboard.

Indian low-cost carrier GoAir has placed a fi rm contract for 72 Airbus A320neo aircraft following the signing of a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) at the 2016 Farnborough Air Show. The airline now has a total of 144 A320neos on order.

Switzerland's Pilatus Aircraft has announced three fl eet orders for a total of 21 PC-21 trainers. The orders spilt into 17 PC-21s for the French Air Force, two for the Royal Jordanian Air Force and two for QinetiQ, for use by the UK Empire Test Pilots' School.

.Arianespace has won two new contracts to deliver commercial communications satellites into orbit aboard Ariane 5 rockets in 2018 and 2019. The JCSAT 17 and Intelsat 39 communications satellites will provide TV and broadband coverage over Japan, the Asia-Pacifi c, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

US GA manufacturer Piper Aircraft has announced that

it has achieved certifi cation for its twin-engine Piper Seminole and single-engine Archer fi tted with G1000 NXi avionics. The launch customer for the upgraded aircraft is The University of North Dakota John D Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, which has ordered over 100 trainers, of which 12 aircraft have already been delivered.

Airlander airship manufacturer Hybrid Air

Vehicles is reported to be planning a stock market fl oatation to raise £50m on London's Alternative Investment Market.

Leasing company GECAS has ordered a further 72 Boeing 737 Max 8s in a deal worth $8.25bn. It is the third order for Maxs from GECAS.

Russia's Sukhoi has delivered the fi rst four of an eventual 24 Su-35 multirole fi ghters to China.

AEROSPACE

China’s fi rst fi xed-wing polar aircraft, ‘Snow Eagle 601’ has landed at the country’s Zhongshan science research station in Antarctica. Arriving at Zhongshan station in November, on 8 January it made the fi rst landing at the high-

GENERAL AVIATION

SPACEFLIGHT

altitude Kunlun Station some 4,000m above sea level. The ‘Snow Eagle 601’

is a Basler BT-67, a turboprop

conversion of the Douglas DC-3. It will be used for

logistics and supply missions,

as well as scientifi c research.

MoD

The airframer ended the year with a backlog of 6,874. Meanwhile, Boeing announced its own end of year totals for 2016 which comprised a total of 748 deliveries (including nine 747s, 137 787s and 99 777s) and net orders for 668 aircraft but which excludes 80 jets for Iran Air. Boeing's order backlog currently stands at 5,715.

Chinese state media

The UK MoD has awarded Leonardo a £271m fi ve-year

contract to provide support and training services for the British Army and Royal Navy’s 62 AW159

Wildcats, the last one of which was delivered in December. Meanwhile, on 12 January, the Anglo-

Italian group unveiled a new single UK entity – Leonardo MW (Marconi Westland), with a total of

7,100 employees making it the second biggest defence company in the UK.

Airbus, Boeing 2016 orders and deliveries

NASA launches hurricane-hunting satellite constellation

Airbus reported that it delivered a total of 688 aircraft to 82 customers during 2016, an increase of over 8% from 2015 and a new company record. These included 68 A320neos, 66 A330s, 49 A350s and 28 A380s. The airframer expects to deliver 'more than 700' aircraft in 2017. Orders for the same period stood at 731 net orders from 51 customers.

DEFENCE

Wildcat’s claws to be kept sharp

First Chinese aircraft lands in Antarctica

On 15 December NASA launched its eight-satellite Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) hurricane observation constellation. The small satellites were launched by a Orbital ATK Pegasus rocket, air-launched from its L-1011 Stargazer aircraft, which had taken off from Cape Canaveral AFB.

NA

SA

7i f FEBRUARY 2017

Japan postponed the launch of an experimental fi n-stabilised sounding rocket from the Uchinoura Space Center on 10 January due to bad weather. The 9.5m long SS-520-4 rocket, carrying a 3kg CubeSat from the University of Tokyo, is the smallest rocket to attempt to put an object into orbit.

Amazon has announced it has made its fi rst ever

AmazonPrimeAir package delivery by drone from its UK Cambridge testing site to a nearby customer. The trial fl ight took 13mins with the UAV fl ying at 400ft.

Chinese group Kuang-Chi has invested £30m in the UK's paragliders, motors and advanced engineering Gilo Industries Group.

Around 2,500 British Airways cabin crews working under ‘mixed fl eet’ employment terms

staged a 72hr strike from 19 December. The strike was in protest over pay differentials paid to mixed fl eet cabin crews.

On 20 December the Boeing/Saab T-X advanced trainer prototype made its fi rst 55-minute fl ight from Boeing's facility in St Louis. A second prototype is set to fl y in early 2017. .The Chinese government has published a white

paper outlining the country’s space plans over the next fi ve years. China plans to land a probe on the dark side of the Moon in 2018, as well as launching an unmanned spacecraft to Mars in 2020.

On 12 January Cirrus Aircraft opened its new fl agship customer showroom, delivery centre, training, maintenance and support 'Vision Center' in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Rolls-Royce is to pay £671m in penalties to settle corruption cases with UK and US authorities – as well as with Brazilian regulators.

United Airlines is to retire its Boeing 747 fl eet nearly a year earlier than scheduled. United fl ies 20 747-400s which were due to be withdrawn by the third quarter of 2018 but which will now be phased out by the end of this year.

SPACEFLIGHT

After the Falcon 9 launch pad explosion in September 2016 which halted fl ights, SpaceX returned to fl ight on14 January with a successful launch that lofted ten Iridium NEXT communications satelllites into low Earth orbit. The launch, which

Emirates defers A380s

@aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

took place from the US west coast Vandenberg

AFB, also saw the fi rst stage of

the Falcon 9 successfully land on SpaceX's drone barge

at sea. The payload of ten

Iridium NEXT sats is the fi rst of a 70-satellite constellation.

BAE Systems reveals ‘atmospheric lens’ research

DEFENCE

SpaceX returns to fl ight

UAE carrier Emirates is to defer the delivery of12 Airbus A380s, pushing back handovers of six due in 2017 a year to 2018, and a further six superjumbos from 2018 to 2019. The decision,

AIR TRANSPORT

BA

E S

yste

ms

AEROSPACE

SpaceX

200th F-35 delivered as USMC Lightnings head to Japan

taken in conjunction with the airframer and engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce, means that A380 production will now slow to 12 aircraft a year, down from a rate of 26 A380s a year in 2016.

The UK’s BAE Systems has revealed that it has been

working on futuristic laser-based ‘atmospheric lens’

technology able to radically extend sensor ranges or

even act as a ‘defl ector shield’ for hostile directed-energy

weapons. The Laser Developed Atmospheric Lens

(LDAL) would use a high-power pulsed laser to heat the

atmosphere and create artifi cial refractions and refl ections

to divert electromagentic waves such as light or radio. The

technology, being worked on at Warton, is still 50 years

away but has been evaluated by Rutherford Appleton

Laboratory.

On 12 January, Lockheed Martin delivered the 200th F-35, a F-35A (AX-2) – the second stealth fi ghter for Japan. It was delivered to the international F-35 training fl eet at Luke AFB in Arizona. The delivery comes shortly after the start of the F-35B's fi rst permanent overseas operational deployment, with ten aircraft from the US Marines VMFA-121 deploying to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, on 10 January.

Lock

heed

Mar

tin

Meanwhile, after meeting President-elect Donald Trump in January, Lockheed

Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson pledged to lower costs and to add 1,800 jobs on

the F-35 programme.


Korea Aircraft Industries has won a KW630bn ($523m) contract from the Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) to supply 30 KUH-1 Surion transport helicopters for the country’s marines. The order is expected to be delivered between 2017 and 2023.

The US Air Force has contracted Orbital ATK to launch a classifi ed National

Reconnaissance Offi ce satellite before the end of 2018. The $29.2m NROL-111 mission will use an Orbital ATK Minotaur 1 rocket from Wallops Island in Virginia.

The UK Department for International Development (DFID) is to fund a trial using UAVs to deliver blood and medical supplies in Tanzania. Conducted in conjunction with Zipline which has operated a similar service in Rwanda

since October, the fi xed-wing Zips drones jettison supplies from 20ft which then descend using a parachute.

On 25 December a Tu-154 of the Russian Defence Ministry crashed in the Black Sea, shortly after taking off from Sochi. All 92 onboard, including 64 members of the Red Army Choir died in the crash.

Scandinavian regional airline Wideroe has signed

a deal with Embraer for up to 15 E2 family jets. The deal breaks down into fi rm orders for three E190-E2s and purchase rights for a further 12 E2 airliners.

The UK MoD has awarded AirbusDS a £410m contract to provide maintenance, upgrade and repair support for the RAF's A400M airlifter fl eet through to 2026. .On 9 January, China launched the Kuaizhou 1A

booster carrying three Earth monitoring test satellites. The mission was organised by Expace, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC), which secured its fi rst commercial launch contract in 2016 from Chang Guang Satellite Technology.

Dassault has reported another weak year for business jet deliveries, handing over 49 Falcons in 2016, down from 55 in 2015.

NEWS IN BRIEF

SPACEFLIGHT DEFENCE

AEROSPACE37 dead as cargo 747 crashes in Kyrgyzstan On 16 January a Turkish cargo Boeing 747 crashed in Kyrgyzstan, killing its crew of four and at least 33 people on the ground after the aircraft ploughed into a village on landing. The aircraft, a 747-4F operated by Istanbul-based ACT Airlines for myCARGO Airlines, was fl ying from Hong Kong to the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek when it struck a residential area

Radome

Airb

us

south of Manas airport at 7.40am local tme. A fl ight data recorder has now been recovered from the wreckage. In a statement, ACT Airlines said that the crash was not due to ‘technical reasons or factors linked to the freight’ and that: ‘There are no faults recorded in the technical log book of the aircraft’ – a -400F manufactured in 2003.

Iranian civil aviation revamp begins with fi rst new airliner in 23 years

NASA plans asteroid probes

On 11 January Airbus delivered the fi rst A321 to Iranian fl ag carrier Iran Air, as part of a 100-aircraft post-sanctions modernisation of the country's civil air transport sector. Iran Air has 46 A320 family aircraft on order.

AIR TRANSPORT

Southwest Research Institute

US tests 100+ strong air-launched drone swarm

The Strategic Capabilities Offi ce of the US Department of Defense, in conjunction with Naval Air Systems Command, has demonstrated a micro-drone swarm at China Lake, CA. Carried out in October 2016, the test involved the launching of 103 Perdix micro-drones from three F/A-18 Super Hornets which then demonstrated collective decision-making, adaptive formation fl ying and self-healing.

US

DoD

NASA is to send two unmanned probes to visit asteroids in the early 2020s as part of its Discovery space exploration programme. Due to launch in October 2021, the Lucy spacecraft will visit the Trojan asteroids near

Jupiter in 2027-2033. This will be followed by the

Psyche mission, which will leave Earth in

October 2023 bound for the 186mile wide asteroid Psyche

between Mars and Jupiter where

the probe will enter orbit in 2030.

i f FEBRUARY 2017 9

DEFENCE

AIR TRANSPORT

MoD

Raytheon UK has appointed Sir Nigel Sheinwald, formerly British Ambassador to the US between 2007-2012, as a Non-Executive Director.

Karen Dee has been appointed as the new CE for The Airport Operators Association, taking over from Darren Caplan.

ON THE MOVE

CorrectionIn the January issue of AEROSPACE on p 17 of 'Redressing the balance’ it was stated that 26-year old Kate McWilliams was easyJet's youngest commercial pilot. It should, of course, be easyJet's youngest commercial captain.

We apologise for any confusion caused.

GENERAL AVIATION

@aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

The spice is right for Max

INFOGRAPHIC: Crowsnest AEW contract signed

AEROSPACE

Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet has placed a fi rm order for 100 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, and revealed itself as the airline behind 13 Max 8s previously attributed to an unidentifi ed customer. This comes on top of an earlier order for 42 Max

8s. In addition, the airline also placed purchase

rights for a further 50 Boeing

aircraft of unspecifi ed types – which include

widebodies, according to the

carrier’s CEO.The aircraft are scheduled to be delivered from 2018 to 2024.

Lock

heed

Mar

tin

Boeing

S-92 inspections after North Sea incident

Google pulls plug on solar Internet UAV plan

It has been revealed that Google parent group Alphabet has abandoned its Project Titan plan for high-altitude solar-powered drones to deliver Internet connectivity to remote areas. It acquired UAV manufacturer Titan

Aerospace in 2014 to work on the concept but axed development around a year ago. However, Google is still continuing work on a similar 'Internet from the sky' plan, Project Loon, involving balloons which it says are ‘much more promising’ to improve remote connectivity.

The UK MoD has greenlighted the start of manufacturing for the Royal Navy's Crowsnest AEW system, after awarding prime contractor Lockheed Martin a £269m contract. The AEW system, designed to protect the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and based on an updated Cerberus tactical system fi tted to the current Sea King ASaC7, will equip Merlin HM2s which will replace the Sea Kings after they retire from service in 2018.

Sikorsky S-92s have experienced a temporay grounding for inspections after a tail rotor

failure on an oil platform in the North Sea almost led to a severe accident. The incident,

on 28 December, saw a CHC Scotia S-92 yaw rapidly on landing after what the AAIB has

now found to be a tail rotor pitch change shaft (TRPCS) bearing failure. No one was hurt

in the incident but, on 10 January, Sikorsky issued an emergency service bulletin to S-92

operators to immediately inspect the bearing.

Meanwhile, Airbus Helicopters H225 Super Pumas continue to be grounded by

Nowegian and UK safety regulators after a fatal crash in April 2016, despite lifting of the

grounding by EASA in October and the US FAA in December.


antenna:

Last December an organisation known as ‘The Sky’s the Limit group’ made up of members of the Airport Operators Association, BAR UK, Airlines UK, IATA and NATS and that is committed to

working collectively as an industry with government, communities and other key stakeholders to deliver airspace modernisation and associated environmental and economic benefi ts, warned that without a complete redesign of the UK’s network of fl ight paths and airways the aviation industry won’t be able to cope with air traffi c that is forecast to grow from 2million fl ights recorded in 2015 to and anticipated 3.1million fl ights by 2030.

As an organisation representing many sections of aviation industry it is hard to disagree with the point they make. Indeed, you do not need me to tell you how the UK aviation industry has grown over recent decades and the point here is that it is still growing and that despite airport capacity being stretched, it is likely to continue growing at a similar pace in years to come.

According to NATS, the number of fl ights it managed rose from 2.22 to 2.38 million and I suspect that the fi gure for 2016 will show a similar level of growth when published. NATS also says that in that same year only 0.2% of delays to fl ights in or across the UK can be attributed to it, a fi gure which the UK network operator suggests is one tenth of average total number of delays experienced by airlines operating within the wider European air traffi c management system.

If there is one thing that both the airline industry and aircraft manufacturers have got right over the past 30 years it is predicting how fl ights would increase and the number of new commercial aircraft that would need to be built to match the growth of the commercial airline industry requirements. Of necessity, air traffi c management systems have needed to be modernised and NATS, working with project partners Lockheed Martin, Heathrow Airport and Eurocontrol, can be proud of the work it has done in respect of Timed-Based-Separation (TBS) development which has allowed the ATM provider to more dynamically manage the separation between arriving aircraft based on prevailing wind conditions around Heathrow airport.

But despite TBS success and the important role that NATS together with aircraft and engine

Global Outlook and Analysis with HOWARD WHEELDON

Time to rethink UK airspace?

manufacturers are playing in reducing aircraft emissions, if the industry is to continue growing at such a pace it is clear that more will need to be done. Despite the sophisticated computer-based ATM system which NATS operates from two locations, Swanwick in Hampshire and Prestwick in Ayrshire, Scotland, it should not be forgotten that present system of UK airspace control was designed at a time when the number of aircraft fl ights was substantially less than it is today. Given the expansion of the industry and the available network capacity, if challenged on aspects of air safety viability it is no longer an option for Government to simply reassure the public concern by expressing a view that any further increase in the number of aircraft fl ying in UK airspace should not affect the safety of aircraft. The truth is equally, that despite overall confi dence in the ATM system there are now genuine concerns about capacity to handle future anticipated growth.

While most in the aviation industry continue to talk about expansion and growth, others might soon be talking about the possibility of imposing controls on growth. Some have also suggested that more capacity will be created by building more runways, by making airports more effi cient and that technology improvements such as redrawing fl ight paths and moving away from traditional ground-based beacons to modern satellite navigation will facilitate all and more of the envisaged expansion of the commercial aviation industry.

But while some of the latter aspects can be agreed to be facilitators that could enable further

NAT

S

FEBRUARY 2017@aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com 11i f

I VENTURE TO SUGGEST THAT ALLOWING COMMERCIAL AIRLINE INDUSTRY GROWTH TO GO UNCONTROLLED IS A RISK TO PUBLIC SAFETY.

increases in available fl ight capacity I would not ignore the possibility that increased control of numbers of fl ights as being an option as well. Indeed, ever since deregulation of the commercial aviation industry began in the late 1980s it is probably true to suggest that air traffi c has, airport capacity excepted, been allowed to grow with few additional controls. The size of aircraft using UK airports, along with the number of different airlines using them has grown exponentially. It is also true to suggest that we have all been brought up to believe that growth in the civil aviation industry must always be assumed to be benefi cial, that it is in the national interest and importantly, that the economy as a whole benefi ts from this. These notions are undoubtedly true although I might add a touch of conjecture by suggesting that as the UK balance of payments has been adversely hit by the huge growth in air cargo imports and that the UK economy has as a result been damaged through the exporting of jobs.

Constraining headlong growth

It is perhaps surprising that there has been little offi cial control over growth in civil aviation industry since deregulation or indeed, other than passenger taxes, controls in respect of the adverse consequences of airline expansion, (save of course for the huge increase over the past 20 years in respect of paying much greater attention to environmental issues). Again, airport slots, terminal and runway expansion apart, one fi nds that there are in this industry far fewer planning related controls over airline and airport growth than one might imagine there might be. For example, airports can increase the numbers of aircraft, the size of aircraft, numbers of passengers, vehicles, buses and for the for the most part, retail and parking space without having to seek additional planning-related permissions.

The deregulated airline world is highly competitive of course and any additional pressures placed on it by UK authorities alone and that cannot

be seen to be universally implemented across the whole of Europe would of course quickly be deemed to be unfair and unreasonable. For that reason alone changes are unlikely, unless UK and EU regulations broadly continue along similar lines. Another aspect and one that, (despite the UK Government choosing to support runway expansion at Heathrow, is the fact that very few new runways have been built at British airports over the past 20 years and or will likely be over the next 20) an aspect that should be of great concern to ATC operators.

For now, encouraged by Government, most appear content to close their eyes to there being limits to air traffi c capacity without substantial rethinking and a proper strategy to match. But the argument that allowing the civil aviation industry to continue expanding unchecked without the imposition of additional safeguards, controls and more checks and balances is a growing one. No surprise, then that those responsible for ATM are also expressing concern that the rate of further anticipated expansion is unsustainable and warning that delays are set to rise from 90,000minutes per year to 4 million unless, the ageing network of airspace structures and fl ight paths are redesigned to make use of modern aircraft technology.

Calls for modernisation of the system are hardly new and while signifi cant investment has been made to improve NATS' ability to handle air traffi c movement across the UK I venture to suggest that allowing commercial airline industry growth to go uncontrolled is a risk to public safety. In suggesting that there needs to be a balance between expansion and control, I realise that I am at risk of making myself unpopular, but experience tells me that if there is public resistance to airport and runway expansion and if safety of fl ight is being challenged by the ease at which airlines can expand we need to rethink our approach toward additional regulation .

Compared to years ago suffi ce to say that fl ying is cheap today. Arguably it is too cheap and while I applaud the work done by NATS and the aircraft and engine manufacturers and particularly by the jet engine producers such as Rolls-Royce and GE to cut the amount of fuel used, to reduce noise, CO2 and other gas emissions I fi nd myself in the minority camp that believes that we just cannot allow the industry to keep on growing unchecked. If that means that the price of airline tickets has to increase then so be it.

None of what I have said above changes the view that if the industry is to go on expanding signifi cant investment and change needs to be made in management of the airspace infrastructure. Government needs to treat this as a matter of priority just as it must also realise that if they choose to allow operation of commercial drones the safety of UK airspace really could be potentially compromised.


TransmissionLETTERS AND ONLINE

fTony Cotton [On Aviation Book Choices for Christmas 2016(1)] Excellent and very helpful. Maybe a week or two earlier next year, so we can actually get them by Christmas?

Stephen Slater [On RAeS Improving UK’s Aerospace paper(2)] Good paper in principle but I am concerned that, at best, only lip service has been paid to the needs of recreational aviators, whom the RAeS feels should be subservient to (the minority) commercial operations. The paper was prepared I believe without reference to any of the sport aviation organisations, such as the LAA, BMAA or BGA.

Bresm [On Baby boomers(3)] The big question is whether we will ever again see aircraft that are completely designed and built in the UK? Sadly, the answer is most probably no! The likes of the US, Russia and China will undoubtedly continue to build aircraft designed by their domestic aerospace companies, simply because those countries have both the resources and national pride to do so. Here in the UK, however, we will undoubtedly carry on building military aircraft but as joint ventures with international partners. Which country would take the lead (ie. as prime contractor) in any future joint venture will, of course, depend upon where the original design concept originates.

iTrump fl oats Super Hornet as potential competition for F-35

Hopefully, as Europe’s top defence contractor, BAE Systems may come up with some world-beating concepts and will rightly take the lead in bringing such concepts into full production. With regard to civil aviation, the days when airliners were built in the UK have gone for good and we must now be content with producing wings and other aircraft sections for the likes of Airbus and Bombardier.

Anthony The aviation industry in the 40s and 60s would have been better than today! Because, at that time, people were so ambitious the only things that let them down were electronics and materials (including metallurgy and composites). Advanced aircraft materials and digital electronics weren’t available at that time ...

Mark Turner [On Perils of Protectionism(4)] The insatiable appetite for travel will continue to rise despite short-term protectionism. We are at a juncture of pause and refl ection and probably taking a deep breath at the advances we have made in just over 100 years in mankind’s evolution. It’s allowing some countries to put balance or the Ying and Yang back into society while new world orders will continue to stretch travel beyond their boundaries. With only a small percentage of Chinese exposed to

international travel this will create new market mixes of consumer choice with more foreign carriers fl ying to the over 40 gateways or major cities in China alone. This will also be the case for India but at a slower pace. The threat for air travel on two to four hour journeys will be the global and revolutionary change in rail travel across Asia and even reach into Europe. However, this is someway away.

Alistair Finlay [On In the latest AEROSPACE magazine – January 2017(5)] Read it and got the T-shirt! Always a pleasure to see AEROSPACE magazine drop through the letterbox.

Here’s one we made earlier. The Boeing X-32B Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator lifts off on its maiden fl ight from Palmdale, California, to Edwards Air Force base on 18 September 2000.

@TotherChris [On Trump’s hint about competition between F-35 and F/A18 Super Hornet] Also means Boeing keeps production line open for longer and has a chance to develop exports. Possibly at the cost of the F-35C.

@michaelkpeters What he means is he’s completely oblivious to the Boeing X-32 vs LM X-35 competition that already occurred a decade ago.

@markpowell Well, a Super Hornet is in no way comparable is it? The posts of an ignorant man with an agenda.

@RAF_Simmer [On 10 beyond awesone VR fl ight experiences(6)] Oh yeah! Did the Mach Loop in P3D in VR the other day - what an experience!!!

@fl yingjok [On Baby Boomers(3)] So #avgeek friends @RAeSTimR and others, what do we think to this? Feasible in timeframe? Economically viable?

@NuclearAeroProf Excellent review of @boomaero SSJ: The three main innovations: medium-bypass turbo-fan engines, advanced aerodynamics, carbon fi bre reinforced plastic.

@yvsmor Very thorough article.

@FlightVueloFlug Unbelievably quieter and cleaner than Concorde? Then count us in.

@av8rculv Great talk by @kev_briggs, fascinating insight into the life of an A380 pilot, thank you.

US

AF

i f@aerosociety linkedin.com/raes facebook.com/raes www.aerosociety.com 13FEBRUARY 2017

OnlineAdditional features and content are available to view online at http://media.aerosociety.com/aerospace-insight

1. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/aviation-book-choices-for-christmas-2016/2. https://portal.aerosociety.com/Assets/Docs/Policy/Improving_the_UK’s_airspace.pdf 3. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/baby-boomers/4. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/perils-of-protectionism/5. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/in-the-latest-aerospace-magazine-january-2017/6. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/ten-beyond-awesome-vr-fl ight-experiences/ 7. AEROSPACE, January 2017, p 15, Redressing the balance.8. AEROSPACE, December 2016, p 26, Making of a hero.9. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/innovation-and-the-airliners-of-tomorrow/ 10. AEROSPACE, December 2016, p 22, Visions of the future.11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxsRA2Mfj4Q

@aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook. www.aerosociety.comi f

@PrideInAviation [On Percy Pilcher glider at National Museum of Scotland] Wonderful! I had no idea of its existence.

@SBAP1 Stunning lecture on SBAP delivered @RAeSLHR @AeroSociety by Oliver Vass(11).

@ProfAtkin And it was a FAB lecture too!

@trustaviation [On London City Airport at 30] I was there! Worked for Eurocity Express (later London City AIrways) from before airport opening! Great project!

@MachinatorBen [On the UK being offered the F-117 in 1986] Much harder to operate it in the UK as a strictly black programme. Not surprising that the MoD declined on that basis.

@eamonhamilton Surely you guys had somewhere in Scotland where you could have stashed it. Even we have Tindal.

@phil_di_grange The Americans would have offered it missing some crucial piece of equipment, so they had the fi nal say on where it got used.

Recently declassifi ed documents from the British National Archives show that President Ronald Reagan offered British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher the opportunity in 1986 for to the UK to acquire US stealth fi ghters - thought to be then top secret F-117.

UK F-117 offer revealed?

@Fishypaul Latest edition of AEROSPACE is great. Loads of interesting stuff, interesting variety...

@MichaelJohnPryce [On Mattis promise to shake up DoD procurement] DoD been trying business reforms for decades. McNamara, Packard. Is defence business?

@AscendingNode [On fi re bomber RJ146s] One of those was fl ying over my house last fi re season. Hard to miss, as 146s are pretty rare around here!

@Leonugent [On Redressing the balance(7)] The recruitment of female pilots isn’t the issue. It’s the failure of industry to develop and retain them.

@iain_gray Great piece from @AeroSociety and great to see #WomenInAviation.

@avaiatrixproject Thank you for the mention @RAeSCareers @AeroSociety about the work we are doing in partnership with @BWPA_UK and @easyJet_press.

@RogCruickshank Proud to have my book in the @AeroSociety Xmas choices(1)! @RAeSTimR alongside @astro_timpeake #avgeek #mentalhealth.

@rawlimark [On Sully the movie(8)] It’s the best fi lm I’ve seen for a while, more emotional than I thought it’d be, got my hayfever going ;-)

@TonakaGR1 Great movie and great skill and judgement.

@McParlinStephen [On 545 A320 family airliners delivered in 2016] I remember RAE Aerodynamics Dept. picked up a Queen’s Award for contributing to the wing design, in 1986. Good investment.

@ianmac67_SE [On need for UK Goverment direction on airspace revamp] Pity we’re leaving EU. Full membership of EASA would help us in that. Associate Membership leaves us on side #brexitshambles.

@fl yte_app [On Innovation and the Airliners of Tomorrow(9)] Great piece from the @RAeSTimR from the @AeroSociety on what @Airbus has in stock for the future!

@AERTECsolutions Great Q&A with Charles Champion of @Airbus by @AeroSociety.

@JerryLawton2 I was wondering why the Airbus Atlas 400M or the C-130J don’t have winglets?

@hws5mp [On Visions of the Future(10)] MUSTARD was so doable, it hurts. No vapourware, no wishful thinking: solid design.

@DavidHartley62 I’ve never forgiven Ken Clarke for cancelling HOTOL. #LongMemory.

@4tis Love the hanging fans VTOL aircraft. Looks like something that Marvel’s SHIELD would use.

@Astro_Adept It is a shame we never built MUSTARD.

Rob

ert S

ulliv

an

Lond

on C

ity A

irpor

t

14 AEROSPACE / FEBRUARY 2017

PLANE SPEAKINGCharles Champion

Plane speaking withCharles Champion

AEROSPACE: You were at the RAeS in 2016 to give a keynote speech about innovation. Can you give a taste of what your talk was about?

CC: What’s interesting with innovation is that a few years ago we were more focused on what would be the next shape of aircraft and a lot about aerodynamics and so forth. Now, innovation is much broader. We see the effect of innovation even in our business practices and we see different ways of working compared to what we were doing a few years ago.

We still have the traditional research and technology but we are also encouraging the art of innovation, which is about putting existing ideas together to deliver new approaches to what we are doing in terms of aircraft. It is pretty interesting! We see many trends, not only related to aircraft, but also related to air traffi c management (ATM). There are more and more requirements coming from the environment to have a sustainable approach to development. There are many more drivers than before and, in fact, innovation is going much faster than it used to.

AEROSPACE: Yet it seems at the moment, the aerospace industry is focused on incremental upgrades. When do you see the next big leap in civil aerospace occurring?

CC: We always have to be prepared so, of course, we are in the comfortable position of having just delivered the A350 a couple of years ago. We had

the fi rst fl ight recently of the A350-1000. We’ve got all these A320neos and, last year, we were awarded certifi cation of the A321neo. We’ve got the A330neo this year but we still have to prepare for the next generation. When, of course, depends a lot on the market, it could be 2025 in terms of entry to service, or it could be 2030. Depending, of course, on the time, you have to develop different solutions and mature different types of technologies.

We have to work on several horizons at the same time. One is improving our existing products. Another is being prepared potentially for 2025 and another is being prepared, potentially, for 2030. So I think it’s interesting. It’s not as if you already knew which aircraft you had to develop when. We don’t know which one and when but we need to be prepared. Hence, the strong investment in the ‘Wing of the Future’ and other initiatives in order to be ready.

AEROSPACE: There seems to be a renewed push for civil supersonic fl ight at the moment. Boom Technology (see p 34) comes to mind and Aerion, which is supported by Airbus. Do you think this is credible?

CC: It seems that it’s coming back but we always saw that potentially there could be a case for business jets for people who are willing to pay a premium in order to go faster. But honestly, it is clear that, with the air traffi c doubling every 15 years, this is not the solution. The solution has to come from the aircraft and show how actually much

Today, aerospace companies are embracing an ever faster rate ofinnovation in order to keep pace with future challenges. AEROSPACE talksto CHARLES CHAMPION FRAeS, Executive Vice President Engineering,Airbus, about why today is a dream for aircraft engineers designing theairliners of tomorrow.

Innovation in the aerospace sector now is much broader and faster than previously, according to Champion.

Airb

us

Airb

us

15i f FEBRUARY 2017@aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook.com www.aerosociety.com

more environmentally friendly, less fuel consumption, fewer emissions, less noise and so on. Even though this is very interesting from an engineering point of view, (and I love engineering!), I would say that the core of our activity should be around subsonic transport aircraft.

AEROSPACE: As an airframer, what are your thoughts on future propulsion? Is it possible we might just jump directly to distributed hybrid-electric propulsion?

CC: On that one we have a roadmap and I think, actually, this is one of the reasons why innovation is accelerating now. When you look at what has been achieved in the automotive industry over the last fi ve and ten years, it’s incredible. Now, you’ve got manufacturers who are disrupting the industry with totally new electrical cars. Of course, this is also pulling the technology forward and a typical example is batteries. It’s clear that, as we fl y, we need to carry the weight of the batteries and, with the weight of the batteries today, having an all-electric aircraft is a bit over the horizon, particularly for large transport aircraft.

This is a journey, so we started with e-Fan, which is a twin-fan aircraft developed by Airbus Group, potentially to develop a trainer. Of course, there’s a difference between a two-seater trainer and carrying passengers over some distance. As an intermediate step we are working on a more complex aircraft with hybrid propulsion. We are working with the engine manufacturers like Rolls-Royce along with Siemens to see what type of power technology you could put into an aircraft.

When will we see that? An A320-sized aircraft will be beyond 2030, very clearly. Nevertheless, we could see that coming before on a small, commuter aircraft. In partnership, we are also working with different engine manufacturers. We are still looking at the contra-rotating open rotor. The challenge on this one is to make it work, not only in terms of fuel consumption but also in terms of noise and all the other aspects as we stated with integration onboard the aircraft.

We are also working towards ultra-high bypass ratio engines. Already today, with the A350 and the new Trent XWB engines, you see a very large fan and a very small core, which does give you a very high bypass ratio and reduce the fuel consumption. The trend is really clearly in that direction that, with very large fans, the way you integrate the engine on the aircraft is of the essence. We do have to still put it under the wing or close to the wing. Or you consider hanging it at the back like we used to have on the aircraft in the ‘60s. This is the kind of stuff we are looking at. We are working closely with engine manufacturers, because it’s clear that, with the very large engine, the way you hang it on the aircraft means that you have to integrate the engine, the nacelle, the pylon and the wing in a much more integrated manner than we do today, where we just plug the engine under a pylon under the wing. This will also bring new interfaces.

AEROSPACE: Presumably the ultra reliable engines today means that the maintenance issue of embedded engines is no longer such a problem as it once was?

CC: It could work, yes. It depends on the size of the engine and it depends on the size of the aircraft. That’s why in the Airbus 2050 concept plane we actually made that confi guration which was more focused around noise and effi ciency and we embedded the engines at the back of the aircraft. This meant they were naturally shielded by the tailplane, so that we could reduce the external noise. That could be one possible solution. It means it is pretty open in terms of confi gurations today for new aircraft. Honestly, for 2030, for engineers, it’s a dream, because you can really look at lots of possibilities, lots of new confi gurations compared to the traditional one we see today.

AEROSPACE: Turning to 3D printing or ALM (additive layer manufacturing) there is a lot of excitement around it. Is that hype justifi ed?

CC: I think it’s another string you can play when you manufacture aircraft. Not all aircraft will be 3D printed, even though I’m sure someone will do it in a garage some day! At least for us, it depends, of course, on the quantities. What’s interesting with 3D printing is the 3D design. It’s when you start to actually design your parts with 3D printing in mind,

The airliner of 2050 and beyond could incorporate radically different confi gurations compared to today.

Airb

us

Airbus is already working on hybrid-electric concepts with Rolls-Royce as part of the E-Thrust project.

Airb

us G

roup


then you can deliver signifi cant savings with a kind of a bionic shape like some brackets we did for the A350.

This is where you actually remove or just put the suffi cient level of the material required, compared to more traditional milling or forging type of approaches. We already have a 3D printed part fl ying on the A350 but the plan is to actually certify the fi rst A350 titanium parts this year. You have to certify not only the part but the process and the whole approach.

AEROSPACE: How do you engage and inspire young people into aerospace if there’s no pioneering Apollo or Concorde-type project that looks signifi cantly different or offers a breakthrough?

CC: That’s an interesting one, because we asked ourselves that question – for the younger generations. The question, I think a couple of years ago was, “Do you still see yourself fl ying in 2050 or will Facebook, social media or whatever, mean fl ying and actually meeting people is of less importance than today?” Overwhelmingly, the response was: “No, no, we still want to fl y. We still believe that we’ll even fl y more to meet people across the globe either for business, for family and whatsoever.”

On that basis, we said: “Okay, the younger generation has to be part of the solution.” We launched our student FlyYourIdeas (FYI) contest, fi rst to attract talents towards engineering and aerospace engineering but also to get ideas from them on how they would see fl ying tomorrow. We use that as really kind of an enabler to actually understand better what aerospace will look like in 2050. I think this is important because, when you see all the media of today and the way we and the younger generation are working, this will defi nitely have an impact on the experience you have to provide when you fl y an aircraft.

We have yet to select the winner of the latest FYI but what is interesting is that, last time, there were ideas that can go from ‘more intelligent material’, to how to manage the birds at the airports and fi nd new ways to actually settle the birds so that they don’t disturb the airport fl ow. The span of ideas is extremely wide and that’s what makes it really exciting.


Interestingly, last year’s winning team were at different universities and they only met physically for the fi rst time at the event of FlyYourIdeas, which meant they were able to work together as a team across the world using all the tools we have today, without actually having to physically meet. It just gives an idea on the new ways of working we have in the industry now compared to where we were years ago.

AEROSPACE: On a related note, today’s aircraft have got huge international design and engineering teams, there’s lots of focus groups, extended marketing studies and computer modelling. But are we missing something now today, perhaps lacking the personal ‘gut feeling’ of yesterday’s engineers?

CC: I wouldn’t mix the focus groups in there but I would say the focus group is more a question of engaging more. More and more we have a collaborative approach. We have co-innovation with our customers, the airlines, to actually bring them onboard to understand what they would like and proposing them solutions. We’ve got ‘ProtoSpaces’ where you can actually test some ideas rather than waiting nine months for the answer.

You prototype, do a kind of proof of concept. All of which are new ways of working and design thinking which actually we didn’t do in the past and which really bring value. Afterwards, what is required is always engineering judgement. If you only rely on tools like computer simulation to design today’s aircraft, you will fail. What we have to learn is basically, what are the orders of magnitude, what are the important parameters, what are the drivers? A good chief engineer always knows it is a trade-off between weight, performance, fuel consumption and range. With these kind of elements, they can quickly judge if an idea is worth pursuing or not.

This we need to develop and, of course, one of our priorities, particularly at Airbus, is that people are not just only trained in one discipline but you create a path in order to prepare for the chief engineers of tomorrow. Really, engineering judgment is even more important now than it used to be, because otherwise you can be overwhelmed by the tools and

Student team Team Multifun won FlyYourIdeas 2015 with this idea for harvesting energy from composite skin fl exing.

IF YOU ONLY RELY ON TOOLS LIKE COMPUTER SIMULATION TO DESIGN TODAY’S AIRCRAFT, YOU WILL FAIL

Airb

usA

irbus


actually lose sense of what an aircraft really is. It’s really back to basics when it comes to an aircraft.

AEROSPACE: You were on a panel at the RAeS Amy Johnson lecture at Farnborough where diversity was debated. What more needs to be done in encouraging women into engineering and aerospace?

CC: A lot needs to be done on that one, I’ll tell you. We developed a diversity award with the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) to try to signal that there are good initiatives at the level of universities and engineering schools but they need to do more in order to attract diversity and inclusion. It’s not just gender diversity, it’s diversity in a wider sense. If you look at basic hiring policy in engineering, our target is to have at least 20% female engineers. Actually, we managed 25% but, without having a specifi c quota, it’s more a question of a target, all things being equal, to actually promote and encourage managers to select the women engineers.

The challenge, of course, is the number of women in engineering and in aerospace engineering. Here in the UK, we still have a lot to do because, if you look at the fi gures, we are probably around 10%-ish, if not below. In other countries it’s closer to 15% or up to 20%. What you see is that, with some universities or schools that really take a proactive approach, the number of women in aerospace engineering is much higher than the average. Of course, it’s a long pipeline, it starts from STEM, it starts from attracting young girls between maybe the age of eight to 12 towards engineering.

It’s really bringing them from the beginning towards science, then engineering and then aerospace engineering. You really need to constantly drive that effort. We are, as far as we can, contributing to that by encouraging, of course universities and also in our hiring policy, towards the development of engineers once they’ve joined the others.

AEROSPACE: Post-Brexit, the UK is still aiming to keep its position as a centre of excellence for wings. What technologies and innovation will a Wing of the Future incorporate?

CC: I think there are several aspects. On the performance side, we are contemplating a more natural laminar fl ow. We’ve been talking about that for decades but now we will be actually fl ying in the framework of the European Clean Sky Programme, using an A340 with two external wingtips which have been designed for natural laminar air fl ow. This test A340 should fl y early this year and will allow us to check natural laminar fl ow in fl ight in real conditions up to Mach 0.8 or 0.85 and see how laminar we are and also test the robustness of the design towards actual operations. This could then lead us towards naturally laminar wings for the next generation of aircraft.

Coatings is something else that we’re looking at. For instance, ‘riblets’ on sharks and dolphins skin reduce drag in the water. For aircraft, these riblets, are about 50 microns high and 100 microns wide. Initially we tested applying them and it wasn’t very

practical. Now we’re developing a robot that would actually put that polymer on top of

the paint of the aircraft and also make the shape of the riblets at the same time. It would be a more industrial operation to install riblets. With riblets, you could save up to 1% overall aircraft drag reduction in widebody

aircraft, such the A350 and the A380.That’s another example. Then

afterwards, beyond the shape and the performance, it’s about manufacturing. It’s about

manufacturing of composite wings at much lower cost and a higher rate than today. Our mission is that the next wing basically fi ts into the same industrial targets that the existing A320 wing, which has been manufactured for the last 30 years.

It’s a very ambitious programme to actually work on the simple solutions for toolings, simple solutions for the manufacturing itself and develop also, a wing that can be built and ramped up easily to 60 aircraft a month. It’s a totally new dimension compared to

In 2017, natural laminar fl ow wing technology will be tested in fl ight using an Airbus A340 as part of the EU’s Clean Sky 2 research programme.

Airbus’ new engineering test centre in Filton will support the Wing of the Future research.

(Airbus)

Airb

us



the way we’ve been designing and manufacturing wings until now. That’s what we intend to develop in Filton and in Broughton in the framework of the Advanced Product Concept Analysis Environment (APROCONE) ATI project.

AEROSPACE: It seems a lot that many aerospace companies today are trying very hard to be Silicon Valley startups. Meanwhile, Facebook, Google, etc, are now dipping their toes into aerospace with UAVs, aerial taxis and space projects. Are you worried that one day Google will decide it’s going to build an airliner?

CC: I would say we’re worried but we have to understand that, at Airbus Group, it is actually pushing us to go faster. Airbus Group formed the A3 establishment in Silicon Valley, just to be part of that overall system and understand the new ways of working. In that framework, we are developing new ideas, totally independently of the main business. For instance, it can be on the business concept with an Uber for helicopters, because you’ve got helicopters sitting on the ground. If you actually could use these assets, maybe you could deliver some benefi t to people who want to fl y and not drive.

Also, we are looking at an autonomous vehicle that can carry someone. The idea is to test if the approach for Uber could move very quickly to the proof of concept. You iterate fast in order to move to the next level of a project and come up with a prototype which can be tested and so on and so forth. It’s not so easy to do for a compete aircraft, which is extremely complex and has many redundancies. You’ve got a very tough certifi cation process.

Nevertheless, with this type of approach, you can go much faster, even in developing a new cabin or a new system onboard the aircraft. You could actually potentially use this kind of constructive approach to improve your aircraft.

When it comes to big data, we are at the beginning of what we can do. For instance, we did a project with a major airline and, just by analysing the big data and making correlations, you’re able to

see some elements of operational decision-making for the airline which would avoid, failures at start-up. This means you improve your dispatch reliability just by understanding your fl eet.

This is just one example but there will be many others. If you look at what you can do with data, it opens the doors everywhere in terms of basically using that data for the benefi t of the design but also the operations of the aircraft. Not to mention, of course, the passengers and all the big data associated with passengers. There is a huge potential there.

AEROSPACE: For any new airliners of 2030s with a radical confi guration (whether a BWB or distributed propulsion), do you think we’re going need subscale demonstrators or X-planes to de-risk these?

CC: I think that at one stage, we need demonstrators, yes. More and more R&T is focused around demonstrators. These can be subscale and have simple functions as part of our analysis of new confi gurations. Airbus has developed THOR, (‘Test of High-tech Objectives in Reality’) sub scale demonstrator which is 3D printed. You can fl y, you can change the confi guration by 3D printing another tail, another nose, another wing. This is just to test concepts and we are currently upgrading it now to test the confi guration with six propellers to see what that type of confi guration (which could work for hybrid aircraft), would actually mean in terms of fl ight control and controllability. Particularly for Airbus, we are integrating technology, so we use these type of demonstrators to really understand the interdependencies and go toward the next step. We will do more demonstrators and possibly in the future one of those will be a wing demonstrator, to see what the wing of the future could look like. Maybe it won’t be the fi nal shape but at least it will give us a clear understanding of how to reach our goals in terms of producability, production ramp-up and also from the technical angle. It’s an interesting question, because really demonstrators are not everything, but they can accelerate traditional research and technology.

Airb

us

Airbus’ THOR 3D printed sub-scale demonstrator is set to fl y in 2017 in a new six-propeller confi guration.

Airbus Group’s A3 start-up lab is now working on project Vahana for a VTOL ‘fl ying car’.

Airb

us G

roup

Airb

us

MIKE BRATBY looks at US plans tomodernise its nuclear arsenal.

19i f FEBRUARY 2017@aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

Going

DEFENCEUS nuclear renewal

nuclearU

SA

F

new stealthy nuclear armed cruise missiles. There will also be a new long range bomber, the B-21, principally designed to deliver the cruise missiles. All of this would cost an estimated one trillion US dollars and a huge bow wave of expenditure on new nuclear weapons would hit US defence budgets in the 2020s and ‘30s.

Infl uential critics, including former heads of US Strategic Command, a former vice-chairman of the JCS and Senator John McCain, have all stated that the present plan is unaffordable and that America should be thinking more broadly about how to renew its nuclear deterrent. Critics claim an effective deterrent can be maintained with a signifi cantly smaller force. Suggestions include retiring the current force of Minuteman ICBMs

The West is currently confronted with an increasingly aggressive Russia and a growing security challenge for Europe. At the same time the US has begun planning for the long-term modernisation

of its inventory of nuclear weapons. At present, the US, the Russian Federation, China, the UK, France and other nuclear armed states are believed to have around 15,000 warheads among them. The US has around 1,500 strategic warheads and initial plans for the future still feature that number. The Pentagon’s current proposal is to progressively replace all three legs of the current triad with a new class of ballistic missile submarine, 400 new ICBMs instead of the current force of Minuteman silo-based ballistic missiles and at least 1,000

An unarmed Minuteman III ICBM is launched out of a silo during a test launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base.


without replacement and abandoning the proposed new long-range cruise missile. This is claimed to have both fi scal and strategic advantages and could create fresh arms control opportunities. Otherwise the US may fi nd itself locked into a dangerous new nuclear arms race.

US President, Donald Trump, has claimed that US nuclear arms replacement programmes are lagging behind those of Russia and both he and President Putin have publicly committed to strengthening their country’s nuclear deterrent. However, the facts do not bear out Donald Trump’s claim, as the US has embarked on planning an ambitious and hugely expensive programme to renew its deterrent. Donald Trump is only correct to the extent that Russia is certainly intent on expanding its own deterrent, with ongoing programmes to introduce new ICBMs, a new class of SSBNs, arming Bear and Blackjack bombers with a new cruise missile, (recently used in action with conventional warheads in Syria), and developing a new stealthy bomber, the PAK-DA. However, the Russian programmes are following a different cycle to America’s and their warheads and delivery systems require more frequent replacement.

Alternative plans

Alternative plans are already under consideration, including trade-offs with other defence programmes. Washington is committed to the long-term goal of reducing its nuclear weapons inventory to a minimum and it is suggested that more effort should be being applied to reducing the role of nuclear weapons in America’s defence strategy.

US

AF

DEFENCEUS nuclear renewal

A US Air Force F-15C Eagle from the 12th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base fl ies next to a Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS Bear bomber on 28 September 2006 during a Russian exercise that brought the Bear near the west coast of Alaska.

The critics claim that a plan for 1,000 warheads would be quite suffi cient to maintain American nuclear deterrence with a substantial reserve of warheads likely to survive even after a pre-emptive Russian strike. At least three alternatives to the offi cial plan are being considered. Option One would include retention of the triad, involving eight replacement SSBNs instead of the present 12 Ohio-class vessels plus a number of Virginia-class SSNs, 300 new ICBMs instead of the present 440 Minutemen III ICBMs each with one warhead, the new strategic bomber and a long-range cruise missile. The Minuteman force will decline to 400 deployed missiles and 450 silos retained to meet the terms of the new START treaty. This force structure would support up to 1,500 operationally deployed warheads, in accordance with new START accounting rules. Included in this total would be forward deployment of new generation B61-12 nuclear bombs to NATO allies.

Option Two calls for elimination of the Minuteman without replacement, and procurement of 10 SSBNs. Eighty instead of 100 new B-21 bombers would be acquired, but without a nuclear cruise missile. This option would give the US 1,199 or fewer strategic

warheads, depending on loading of the SSBNs. The new B61 bombs would be assembled under this option, but not forward-deployed.

Option Three would eliminate the Minuteman ICBMs and establish a combined sea-based ballistic missile force based on eight Virginia-class submarines and six Ohio-class replacement SSBNs. The force mix would include 80 B-21 strategic bombers but without the nuclear cruise missile. It

Cross section of Ohio replacement nuclear submarines.

CALLS ARE GROWING FOR A NEW DESIGN PHILOSOPHY FOR NEXT-GENERATION NUCLEAR WEAPONS, ONE THAT MAXIMISES THE CONTRIBUTION ... TO NON-NUCLEAR OPERATIONS

Cap

tain

Will

iam

J B

roug

ham

, US

N


would deploy around 750 warheads. All three of these alternative force structures would take 30 years to implement and would include a force of new bombers. However, Options Two and Three would not include the cruise missile to arm the bombers.

Current replacement plans risk locking the US into replicating the Cold War force structure. Calls are growing for a new design philosophy for next-generation nuclear weapons, one that maximises the contribution high-end nuclear capable weapons systems can make to non-nuclear operations. Future nuclear weapons platforms must be multi-purpose assets and attach more importance to roles such as ISR, for example. Future systems must be easily converted to conventional roles so part of the new design philosophy could be designing for denuclearisation. Obviously this would depend on the security environment but it could effectively signal the US intention to minimise its number of nuclear weapons. It would provide a hedging strategy and design changes would be aimed at simplifying conversion to non-nuclear missions.

The US’s preferred option?

Options Two and Three are more consistent with US statements on nuclear posture and purposes. These make clear that Washington seeks a mutual deterrent relationship with Russia at the lowest possible level. An American offer to cancel LRSO (Long-Range Standoff Weapon) could form the basis of a new arms control deal and lead to a ban on all nuclear armed cruise missiles. Hilary Clinton, the defeated Democratic Presidential candidate, had stated she would be inclined to cancel a new nuclear cruise missile. Alternatively, cancellation of Minuteman would help remove Russian concerns over land-based ICBMs. Without the 400 Minuteman warheads America would not be able to attack all Russian strategic weapons or deter or defeat Russian retaliation for an US fi rst strike. However, if the US had around 1,000 strategic warheads remaining this, it is claimed, would be suffi cient to maintain a high level of deterrence. Furthermore, scrapping Minuteman may encourage Russia not to develop new weapons of its own. It could make it easier to gain Russian agreement to strict limits on ICBMs and MIRV warheads and might even unblock the currently virtually frozen

nuclear arms control debate. There may also be the opportunity to convert the Virginia-class submarines for purely conventional tasks or at least arm them with a mix of nuclear and non-nuclear weapons. All of this would have to be subject to effective verifi cation technology. The Chinese deterrent consists of only 260 warheads, so the American nuclear force would be able to deter this, even with a reduced number of weapons. Options Two and Three also envisage eventual withdrawal of

forward deployed B-61 nuclear bombs. This may provide additional leverage for Russia to cease development of a new ground-launched long-range cruise missile and encourage the Kremlin not to deploy its nuclear weapons in politically sensitive areas of Eastern Europe to reduce the risk of confrontations.

Conclusions

The debate over the future shape and size of

the American nuclear deterrent has only just begun. Once the Presidential transition is over, a serious review of the future US deterrent can be expected. Expect a series of further options to emerge and a concerted push to reduce the size of the future US deterrent and make America less reliant on nuclear weapons. Although the UN General Assembly is proposing to declare nuclear weapons illegal and 127 countries have so far signed up to this, no nuclear-armed countries or members of NATO have agreed to the proposal. In fact prospects for further progress in eliminating nuclear weapons appear bleak, with American and NATO relations with Russia tense and major upgrades to nuclear weapons systems underway or being planned by virtually all the current nuclear armed powers.

Rendering of the future Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.

Four B-61 nuclear free-fall bombs on a bomb cart at Barksville AFB.

US

AF

SS

GT

Phi

l Sch

mitt

en, U

SA

F

Controversial research into ‘propellantless propulsion’ is ongoing inEurope, China and North America. Despite claims that there should be nothrust laboratories, including NASA’s, are measuring a force at work. ROB COPPINGER investigates the claims.

Cavity in Vacuum’, from NASA’s Eagleworks Laboratory. The laboratory is based at NASA’s Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston, Texas. The paper’s abstract states that: ‘Thrust data ... suggested that the system was consistently performing with a thrust-to-power ratio of 1.2 plus or minus 0.1 milliNewtons per kiloWatt.’

Since 2013, the Eagleworks team has been examining two concepts: the EmDrive, which the NASA researchers refer to as the tapered cavity, and the Cannae Drive. A Guido Fetta is the originator of the Cannae Drive. His company, Cannae LLC, is based in the US. The EmDrive inventor is Roger Shawyer, founder of Satellite Propulsion Research (SPR), based in the UK. It was the tapered cavity concept cited in the AIAA paper that achieved the thrust-to-power ratio of 1.2 during

Eagleworks’ experiments.


SPACEFLIGHTPropellantless propulsion

Flights of fancy?

After decades of conjecture that the concepts cannot work, demonstrations of propellantless propulsion are being promised in the next few years with in-orbit satellite tests and a

demonstrator fl ying vehicle. In 2016, some of the latest research challenging the mainstream view that it is all impossible was published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ (AIAA).

The AIAA’s peer reviewed Journal of Propulsion and Power published the paper, ‘Measurement

of Impulsive Thrust from a Closed Radio-Frequency

Can

nae

NA

SA


Capabilities Offi ce (RCO), which manages the X-37B programme, and asked if the electric thruster was an EmDrive and the RCO said it was not. A report by the space news site, Spacefl ightnow.com, on 6 May 2015 stated that US military offi cials told the website that it was a new Hall Effect thruster.

Boeing’s interest

Boeing is the prime contractor for the X-37B and the US aerospace giant has assessed Shawyer’s EmDrive technology; it confi rmed this to AEROSPACE. “Boeing has no current plans for EmDrive technology. Boeing will continue to monitor [propellantless drive] development and proof of concept testing by other entities, including NASA,” Boeing told AEROSPACE.

Shawyer, a RAeS Fellow, told AEROSPACE that his fi rst contact with Boeing was in 2006. EmDrive had received some trade press media coverage in the early 2000s because of the UK Government funding Shawyer had received. But it was the 6 September 2006 New Scientist magazine cover story about EmDrive that raised the concept’s profi le and led to the backlash by physicists and others.

Shawyer was still invited to visit Boeing’s Phantom Works and, later in 2008, the USAF contacted him and a meeting took place on 10 December at the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Pentagon building. He gave a presentation on the EmDrive at this meeting, which was chaired by the

Director of the National Security Space Offi ce and had representatives from USAF, the DoD’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and NASA in attendance.

In 2009, government-to-government agreements enabled Shawyer’s fi rm SPR

to work with Boeing. In a UK Government Department of Trade and Industry end-user

undertaking seen by AEROSPACE, Boeing was to receive an SPR built EmDrive fl ight thruster for work to take place at the company’s Huntingdon Beach, California facility. It was Boeing’s Phantom Works that assessed the EmDrive.

Following the Pentagon meeting, Shawyer had a further meeting with DARPA. The defence research agency acknowledged to AEROSPACE that it had been in ‘discussions’ about EmDrive, but would not disclose any more information.

EmDrive development

Shawyer has continued to develop his EmDrive and is bemused by the strength of feeling directed at it. The EmDrive emits microwaves into a cavity with one end larger than the other; it is tapered. His hypothesis is that radiation pressure at one end of the cavity is greater than the other, generating thrust. Today, he is working with the UK aerospace company Gilo Industries. “We envisage a wide

A published SPR EmDrive timetable from 2014 gives 2019 as the date for a demonstrator fl ying vehicle. Fetta’s Cannae Drive is planned to be launched into orbit in a cubesat before late July 2018. A Cannae press release dated 20 July 2016 says the cubesat would be launched within 24 months. In December 2016, the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), the Chinese Government’s satellite manufacturer, announced that it had a development programme to test a propellentless drive in orbit.

A claim by the online news publication, International Business Times, in November 2016 that EmDrive type propellantless drives have been fl own on China’s Tiangong-2 space laboratory and the US Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane could not be verifi ed by AEROSPACE. Tiangong-2 was launched in September last year. This space laboratory programme is run by the China Manned Space Program (CMSP) but the CMSP did not respond to email contact.

In May 2015, the USAF’s Boeing X-37B spaceplane was launched for its fourth mission. At the time the USAF said that the X-37B would test an ‘electric propulsion thruster,’ while it was in orbit, which could be for two or three years. Previous X-37B fl ights have lasted for more than a year. AEROSPACE contacted the USAF’s Rapid

Could propellantless thruster technology eventually be used to facilitiate deep space exploration missions?

Below: Artist’s impression of a cubesat to be launched in 2018 which will use Cannae propellantless thruster technology to maintain orbit around the Earth.

Above: The surface of Pluto.

China A

erospace and Technology Corporation

There have been unsubstantiated media reports that propellantless drives may already have been tested on China’s Tiangong-2 space station (above) and on the USAF’s X-37B spaceplane (below).

US

AF

EmDrive hybrid spaceplane propulsion system.

Rog

er S

haw

yer


Rog

er S

haw

yer

WE ENVISAGE A WIDE RANGE OF AERONAUTICAL, ASTRONAUTICAL AND TERRESTRIAL APPLICATIONS ONCE THESE ENGINES BECOME AVAILABLE TO COMMERCIAL INDUSTRYRoger Shawyer FRAeS


range of aeronautical, astronautical and terrestrial applications once these engines become available to commercial industry. A fl ying car is one of the more obvious applications,” Shawyer told AEROSPACE.

He declined to give details about the work with Gilo, due to ‘commercial and government imposed restrictions.’ However, Shawyer does confi rm he is working on a superconducting EmDrive thruster. A 2014 published timetable of his estimated that, by 2016, he would have a 3kW thruster producing 3kN of thrust. He declined to confi rm if he and Gilo has achieved that, saying that he is unable to talk about, ‘current test data’.

The timetable also states that a vehicle demonstrator would be tested in 2019. While Shawyer also declines to comment on if this will also occur on time, he does explain how such a vehicle would be powered. A fl ying vehicle, atmospheric or exo-atmospheric, would cool its many EmDrive thrusters with liquid hydrogen. As the liquid hydrogen boils off, that gas is used that to cool down the high-power microwave sources and is then pumped into a fuel cell to generate the electricity needed to power the vehicle’s systems, including the EmDrive’s microwave input.

China’s work

The announcement in December 2016 that China plans to launch a test satellite with a propellantless drive on-board follows at least a decade of Chinese research. The Chinese science and technology publication, STDaily.com, reported on 10 December on press conference comments by CAST’s Institute of Communication Satellite division’s Dr Chen Yue. However, no date for the propellantless propulsion test satellite has been given. Yue was not available for comment when emailed by AEROSPACE.

In 2008, a professor Juan Yang and her scientists studying the EmDrive concept at Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU) in Xi’an, China invited Shawyer to visit and give lectures. Yang and her team had been studying propellantless drives and the EmDrive. Shawyer told AEROSPACE, he was shown their thermal vacuum test chambers for fl ight thrusters and other facilities.

Yang is a Professor of Aerospace Propulsion Theory and Engineering at NWPU. In 2011, her team submitted their fi rst paper claiming a measured thrust output of 270milliNewtons (mN). It was in 2013 that Yang’s team published another paper in the Chinese Physics B Journal, an international journal produced by the Institute of Physics’ publishing arm, showing a dramatic thrust increase to 720mN. Yang has not responded to AEROSPACE’S emails.

Shawyer told AEROSPACE that 720mN is the highest published EmDrive thrust. The NPWU team published again early in 2016 but it was only in EmDrive hybrid spaceplane aerodynamic model.

EmDrive demonstrator engine.

EmDrive demonstrator thruster.

EmDrive dynamic test rig.

Rog

er S

haw

yer

Rog

er S

haw

yer

Rog

er S

haw

yer


Chinese with an English abstract, professor Martin Tajmar told AEROSPACE. Tajmar is a director of the Technical University of Dresden’s Institute of Aerospace Engineering and Head of Space Systems.

Tajmar’s Institute has been studying propellantless drives. One of Tajmar’s graduate students built an EmDrive and Tajmar published the results in 2015. “What I reported was inconclusive. We built the thruster, according to the [EmDrive] specifi cation, and we could measure thrust that was according to what we should have measured, but I couldn’t get a null measurement,” he told AEROSPACE. A null measurement is when a test or experiment is set up in such a way that it should not produce anything that can be measured.

On the controversy, Tajmar’s view is that good science needs to be done to either disprove or prove something. He rejects Shawyer’s radiation pressure hypothesis. “[First], is there an experimental case or not? There is no settled case here,” Tajmar commented. Another graduate student is to continue the EmDrive work this year and likely into 2018 to eliminate the possible experimental errors identifi ed.

Tajmar has also tested a propellantless drive designed by Dr James Woodward, Emeritus Adjunct Professor of Physics at the State University of California Fullerton. Woodward’s approach is very different to Shawyer’s. Woodward’s concept is based on the hypotheses of Ernst Mach, whose ideas infl uenced Albert Einstein. Mach also gave his name to the measurement of the speed of sound.

Woodward told AEROSPACE that Mach’s principle is that all inertial forces, the forces of reaction in Newton’s third law, are produced by the gravitational action of all the matter in the universe. When that universal gravity action on an object is analysed, it is found that the object’s mass changes, fl uctuates if it is subject to forces that cause it to be deformed, changing its, ‘internal energy’ as it is accelerated. If a second periodic force is brought to bear on the object whose mass is fl uctuating, by pushing heavily and pulling lightly on said object, a steady thrust is produced in the direction of the heavy push.

Tajmar’s work on a Mach Effect Drive is ongoing. He told AEROSPACE that his team is detecting thrust but the test campaign is not completed, they have not fi nished their calibration checks and the laboratory has many error sources to check.

Eagleworks’ thruster

Of the different laboratories researching propellantless drives, the most well-known is NASA’s Eagleworks. Its peer-reviewed paper follows an AIAA conference presentation by the Eagleworks team in 2014 at the 50th AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference, held in Cleveland, Ohio. Then and with

the 2016 AIAA publication, Harold Sonny White’s team has only reported small levels of milliNewtons of thrust because their power input has been small.

His Eagleworks’ AIAA Journal paper proposes a hypothesis that the quantum vacuum is a dynamic medium that could provide the detected thrust. Professor Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist at the State University of Arizona, has written a book about the nature of the vacuum and how a universe can be spawned from it, entitled A Universe from Nothing. Krauss told AEROSPACE that the dynamic

Harold Sonny White from NASA said that tests of the EmDrive tapered cavity concept had only detected small levels of milliNewtons of thrust because their power input has been small.

‘Far stronger evidential basis needed’, says RAeS

The Committee of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Space Group (chairman: Philip Davies FRAeS) has followed the controversy since at least 2005 when Roger Shawyer sought to publish an EmDrive paper in the Society’s The Aeronautical Journal. The Committee responded to the current situation with the following statement:

“Much time has been spent by many parties reviewing the claims of propellantless propulsion despite an apparent lack of reproducible results. The issue with all of these ‘thrusters’ is the lack of theoretical background to them, with each proponent claiming their own to be obvious and sound, yet with none of them agreeing. This was not how the jet engine was developed and is not how the Sabre hypersonic air-breathing engine is being developed by Reaction Engines (see AEROSPACE September 2013, p 39).

If the developers of such devices want to be taken more seriously, it’s incumbent upon them to allow greater scrutiny of their experiments or to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that they have something that works. We note the reluctance of the proponents to publish detailed results which is a barrier to acceptance by the scientifi c community and we support the AIAA in publishing a peer-reviewed paper on the subject. The lack of acceptance by the mainstream propulsion community will not change without a more open sharing of results and proofs, as well as a rigorous theoretical underpinning. We therefore encourage the inventors to facilitate the creation of a far stronger evidential basis – perhaps with the Society providing an impartial forum for this.”

NA

SA

Am

es R

esea

rch

Cen

ter


medium “idea won’t work”. White was not available for an interview about Eaglework’s experiments.

With such widespread mainstream scepticism, it may seem strange that an organisation like the AIAA would publish such research. The AIAA has what it calls publishing principles and, under its principle for the evaluation of manuscripts and acceptance procedure for AIAA Journals, the Institute states: ‘It is the policy of the Editors to give unbiased and impartial consideration to all manuscripts offered for publication and to make sure that no unconventional hypothesis or original idea is throttled if there is a chance that such a paper might stimulate either progress or constructive controversy on a technical point.”

However, the AIAA paper is not the only peer-reviewed paper to be published in 2016. In June, last year, the American Institute of Physics’ (AIP) AIP Advances publication published a paper from University of Helsinki and University of Jyväskylä researchers entitled ‘On the exhaust of electromagnetic drive’. That paper sets out a theoretical exploration of a possible hypothesis for why EmDrive appears to work. The idea is that photon pairing is generating thrust.

The paper’s correspondence author, Professor Arto Annali, one of its three authors, told AEROSPACE in an email that: “When it comes to the EmDrive, we reason that the photons that are fed into the cavity will bounce back and forth, and eventually will pair with each other at the opposite phase. Since the pair is without electromagnetic fi elds, it can escape from the metal cavity. If the escaping from one end differs from the other end, there will be thrust.” As they escape the cavity, they conserve momentum – not violating Newton’s third law of motion.

In a phone interview, Annali added that the AIP peer-review feedback he and his colleagues were given was that the ideas in their paper have been around since the 1920s or 1930s. Annali added that only experimentation would confi rm the paired-photon idea but his university would not be conducting experiments. Their theoretical study used physics simulation software from the COMSOL company and one of the three authors was from the fi rm.

Another ‘impossible drive’

As well as the Eagleworks lab, NASA is funding another propellantless drive, which, like the Helsinki, Jyväskylä team, has a photon hypothesis for how it works; but, using lasers not microwaves. In October 2013, the space agency awarded the California based Y.K. Bae Corporation (named after


its founder Dr Young K Bae) a NASA Innovative Advance Concepts (NIAC) phase two grant sto investigate, ‘innovative spacecraft manoeuvring and formation fl ying,’ with what Bae calls a Photonic Laser Thruster (PLT).

Bae states on its website that the PLT works by amplifying photon power by bouncing photons,

lasers, several hundred times between two laser mirrors to achieve useful thrust. In May

2015, Bae announced it had achieved a thrust of up to 1.1milliNewtons and

accelerated a 450gram object, a ‘spacecraft simulator,’ on a

gliding platform along a two-metre frictionless air track, simulating zero-gravity. In the same announcement, Bae’s founder stated that the company’s next milestone

was a low Earth orbit fl ight to prove that PLT could enable

precision formation fl ying and station keeping for small satellites.

Cannae cubesat

Meanwhile, Fetta’s cubesat borne Cannae Drive is expected to be launched into low Earth orbit at about 150miles (240km) altitude by July 2018. Fetta was not available for interview but he has publicly stated on his website that his company has, “demonstrated two separate prototypes of a superconducting thruster,” at the company’s Pennsylvania test facility. Cannae’s website also explains that the drive works by using, “the Lorentz force imbalances generated by our thrusters to generate thrust without requiring on-board propellant.” The Lorentz force describes electric and magnetic forces acting on a charged particle.

Despite all the corporate and government interest, Fetta, Woodward and Shawyer still have a long way to convince the scientifi c and technical communities. Brian Koberlein is a computational astrophysicist specialising in phenomena such as blackholes. He criticised the propellantless drive concepts in his 19 November 2016 article for business magazine Forbes’ online site. “The biggest problem with both of those [EmDrive and Mach Effect] is that their explanations don’t get around the fact that they violate Newton’s third law,” Koberlein told AEROSPACE.

“They are trying to come with an explanation that will allow this thing to work. And their doing that without any clear evidence that it does work. If we had a device that truly accelerated without any reaction we would turn around and say ok how do we explain this.” He expects that the Eagleworks team will not be able to eliminate the sources of error and in the, “long run, it won’t work out”.

Proposed markets for 2G EmDrive

SOLAR POWER SATELLITE LAUNCH

INTER- CONTINENTAL TRANSPORT

PERSONAL AIR VEHICLES

SPACE TOURISM

HELIUM 3 EXTRACTION

SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION

ASTEROID MINING

Concept image of EmDrive long haul transportation vehicle.

Rog

er S

haw

yer

Military Technological College (MTC) Sultanate of Oman

Senior Job OpportunityHead of Department of Aeronautical Engineering

The Ministry of Defence, Sultanate of Oman has established a state of the art Military Technological College with intent on becom-ing a Centre of Excellence in the unique provision of education and training for Ministry of Defence and Civilian Engineers and Technologists in Oman. The mission of MTC is to deliver applied undergraduate and post-graduate engineering programmes for all Oman MOD service personnel, in a well-equipped and high quality learning and training environment, resulting in the acquisi-tion and application of knowledge and the achievement of operational competence and effectiveness at all levels. The Pedigree of the college will be determined by quality teaching and learning, preparedness of its graduates as able practitioners and via underpinning research appropriate to the requirements of His Majesty’s Armed Forces.

In addition to an English language and General Studies department MTC hosts four main engineering departments; Aeronautical

is delivering a host of University of Portsmouth validated and professionally accredited DipHE and bachelor of engineering degree programs in aeronautical, marine, systems and civil engineering. The department of aeronautical engineering is also an approved maintenance and training examinations organisation, licensed by EASA the European Aviation Safety Agency, and by PACA the Public Authority for Civil Authority in Oman. In addition to top academic standards in education delivery, MTC has completed a training needs analysis and is providing hands-on engineering training to ensure student cadets graduate with the engineering skill sets essential to His Majesty’s Engineering Services. Engineering laboratories and workshops are equipped to the highest international standards.

MTC is now seeking to appoint a senior academic to lead the Department of Aeronautical Engineering. The successful candidate will assume responsibility for the overall quality, content, development and delivery of academic and vocational training programmes offered by the Department. The successful candidate will ideally be a graduate engineer possessing higher

ing, be a chartered engineer and member of an engineering Professional Institution, such as the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS). Proven people leadership and management skills is an essential requirement. The appointee will also be expected to support engagement in research and scholarly activity relating to aeronautical engineering.

to and from home base (1 return ticket per annum for candidate, spouse and max two children up to 18 years of age), medical cover and health insurance, and children education fee support.

MTC also welcomes applications for positions of instructor/lecturer, senior instructor/senior lecturer, principal instructor/ principal

month; contracts three year, renewable.

Interested candidates should apply by email to [email protected]

tisement in more detail.

Closing date: 1st March 2017All CVs to be sent to: [email protected]

With a focus on maritime security in Asia-Pacific, India’s Navy hasembarked on a modernisation programme. NEELAM MATHEWS reports.

AEROSPACE. “We need the fi ghters sooner rather than later.” He added, while the Navy would continue to help the agency to develop the carrier-based LCA for technology demonstration, it would be simultaneously fulfi lling its need for 20 alternative (twin-engine) fi ghters through a bid soon. This would likely put the Boeing F/A-18E/F and Dassault Aviation’s Rafale in the fray. Lanba indicated he was looking at the fi ghters “within the next fi ve or six years.” The project is independent of the Make in India plans of the Indian Air Force for a single-engined fi ghter for which OEMs have had discussions with the Ministry of Defense.

Presently two naval LCA Technology Demonstrators are fl ying without any payloads carrying out only take-offs and landings. “The naval LCA continues to be too heavy, and does not meet the thrust and ratio required to take off with full weapon load,” a naval design offi cial said. The naval LCA requires a strengthened airframe and landing gear, arrester hook, improved engine, enhanced aerodynamic performance and incorporation of special metals/materials. The design must also incorporate the radar “that needs to be shock mounted as the aircraft lands at 250km an hour with after burners on, full fl aps on.”


DEFENCEIndian Navy aviation

Indian Navy uplift

As security challenges in the region emerge, India is increasingly focusing on modernisation and capability building of its military. The Indian Navy’s guideline document, ‘Indian

Naval Indigenization Plan (INIP) 2015-2030,’ articulates its requirement for advanced systems for its platforms and, while the policy priority is clear that there should be a commitment to maximise indigenous production, it does not underscore the need for quality.

LCA v/s global fi ghter

Clearly, speed is of the essence, as delays in procurement decisions in the past have plagued the growth of upgradation. For instance, the naval single engine, compound delta wing, tailless Light Combat Aircraft (LCA Mk2) being designed and developed by the government’s Aeronautical Development Agency, along with state defence manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), has been rejected by the Navy as “it does not meet the qualitative requirements of the IN,” Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba told

THE FOCUS IS NOW TOWARDS INDIGENISATION OF AIRCRAFT SPARES, REPAIR PROCESSES AND TEST FACILITIES THROUGH OBSOLESCENCE MANAGEMENT AND IMPORT SUBSTITUTION

DR

DO


Obsolescence management and sustenance of legacy platforms is being considered for the Navy’s Tu-142M and IL-38SD long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft and KV 28 anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare (ASW) helicopters of Russian origin and western platforms such as Sea King ASW and Sea Harrier, carrier-borne V/STOL fi ghter. “Indigenisation efforts have not been restricted to one-to-one replacement of imported items, but are aimed at improving operational effi ciency and reliability through re-engineering, ab initio design and technology enhancement,” says the IN document. “Approximately 730 by type spares have been indigenised and over 100 are in the pipeline.”

With new generation platforms, MiG- 29Ks, Hawk AJT, Ka-31, and P-8Is, there is an emphasis on long-term sustenance, increased self-reliance, and enhanced capabilities. For this, deep repair facilities (DRF) in partnership with Indian industry are being considered. In future, “DRF within services would have to be complemented or replaced

The present naval LCA design is based on ski-jumps on its two aircraft carriers, including the Vikramaditya (formerly Gorshkov) and the 260m long Indian Aircraft Carrier (IAC-1) with a 2.5 acre fl ight deck under production. The naval LCA will replace the MiG-29Ks (for the ski-jump carriers) that will go for upgrades in 2019 and replacement in 2029. Additionally, the IN is working on the design for the 65,000tonne catapult-equipped Indian Aircraft Carrier IAC-2 that will have 54 aircraft. The design of the LCA would have needed to be modifi ed from the skijump to a conventional catapult-arrested design. With the catapult carrier, the stage may also be set for the Indian Navy to acquire a squadron of four Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye AEW&C aircraft. The Navy presently uses Kamov KA-31 for its AEW mission, but requires aircraft with a longer range and endurance. A Request for Information was issued six years ago and Northrop Grumman has submitted a proposal for a shore-based version of the E-2D for the interim. It is likely the foreign military sales (FMS) route could be considered with the US.

Industry support – partnerships

To avoid OEM dependency and in the near future, to ‘Buy and Make Indian’, the focus is now towards indigenisation of aircraft spares, repair processes and test facilities through obsolescence management and import substitution. Plans are afoot to gather industry support for the development and maintenance of various handling equipment onboard the IAC-2. A large amount of equipment for deck handling aircraft, weapons and ammunition will be required, including indigenisation of equipment imported presently. These include ship-based hoisting and lifting for aircraft and cranes, automatic aircraft landing system (microwave/electronic ACLS) for indigenous fi xed-wing aircraft, carrier-based fi xed-wing aircraft arrester wire recovery system, aircraft catapult launch system, fl ight deck and hangar fi refi ghting system, rail-less and wireless aircraft traversing system and telescopic hangars and foldable hangar doors, according to the IN.

Meanwhile, upgrade programmes of naval aircraft and systems done with Indian industry support include IFF, ESM systems, communication systems including SATCOM, and network-centric capabilities. Batteries, tyres, brake units and multi-functional display are other examples. The small fl eet of IN platforms does pose a challenge for the private sector looking at volumes, a naval offi cial admitted.

Indi

an N

avy

India’s indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at the Cochin Shipyard in 2015.

Naval Light Combat Aircraft taking off from the Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) at INS Hansa.

The Indian Navy has a fl eet of eight Boeing P-8Is with a further four on order.

Indi

an N

avy


with capabilities in Indian Production Agency (IPA) through their maintenance repair overhaul (MRO) facilities and performance-based logistics concepts.”

The Navy has eight P-8Is in service with an additional upgraded four ordered to augment its anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities. Delivery of these extra four will start in 2020, and be completed by late 2021. The upgrades could include an aerial refuelling capability that would extend the operational range beyond 1,200nm. With India not having signed the Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA) and the Basic Exchange and Co-operation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Co-operation (BECA), it is unlikely the P-8Is will be equipped with encrypted communication suites and electronic warfare systems. The Indian Navy has been using its fl eet of P8Is for patrolling and search missions in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.

Coast Guard maritime aircraft

Even as India’s fi rst private sector aircraft development ‘Make in India’ programme to replace the Indian Air Force (IAF) Avro HS748 transporter fl eet with 56 Airbus C-295 by the Tata-Airbus consortium comes closer to contract signing, the MoD has cleared six surveillance aircraft for the Indian Coast Guard multi-mission maritime aircraft requirement. The consortium will deliver the ‘raw’ aircraft to the Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO) that will integrate it with its indigenous mission system. Since coastal surveillance fl ights do not fl y at a very high altitude, the cameras do not have to be highly sensitisite technology. The mission system could be a derivative of the multi-sensor airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system developed by the Center for Airborne System (CABS) on Embraer 145 platform, along with DRDO.

DEFENCEIndian Naval aviation

IN rotary needs

The maritime environment in which the IN operates is both vast and diverse. Unpredictable weather patterns over the Indian Ocean dictate stringent performance requirements for airborne surveillance systems. The strong currents in the waters of

Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, mean hull-mounted sonars are

less effective, making ASW helicopters a vital requirement for the IN. The

average availability of helicopters in the IN is under 20%. Of its some 140 ships, 100 can carry around two helicopters each. This was confi rmed by a recent parliament committee report that noted: “IN is short of 61 integral helicopters on existing ships.”

Deferrals in helicopter contracts have dogged the navy.

A contract was fi nally signed after a decade of delays for ten Ka-28s

that were aircraft on ground (AOG) due to unavailability of spares, with Russia’s

Rosoboronexport to complete the upgrade by 2021. The Ka-28 fl ies at an altitude of 5,000m,

has a 900km range and a maximum take-off weight of 12,000kg.

Last year in October, India and Russia signed a shareholders agreement for the joint venture of Ka-226T helicopters in India between Russia-based Rosoboronexport, Russian Helicopters and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd to jointly produce 200 Kamov Ka-226T helicopters for reconnaissance and surveillance. They will replace the ageing Chetaks (Aerospatiale SA316 Alouette III). Kamov is believed to have offered modifi cations to the Ka-226T to meet a requirement for over 100 naval utility helicopters. Details of the transfer of technology being offered have not been revealed, nor have timelines.

Meanwhile, a decision has been on the cards for 16 Multi-Role Helicopters (MRH) along with a complete logistics support and training programme to replace the ageing 31-year old Sea King Mk42B

Indian Navy

Kamov Ka-31.

India and Russia have signed an agreement to produce 200 Kamov Ka-226T helicopters.

From left to right: Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba; Admiral RK Dhowan with India’s Minister for Defence, Shri Manohar Parrikar at the P-8I Sqn induction ceremony at INS Rajali, Arakkonam on 13 November 2015; Russia’s President Putin and India’s Prime Minister Modi.

Sup

plie

d by

aut

hor


with Sikorsky S-70B helicopters. This represents “a major strategic win for Sikorsky in an important growth market, and positions us well for future opportunities,” said Mick Maurer, President of Sikorsky Aircraft. “We look forward to a long-term collaboration with the Indian Government and local industry …” While the contract negotiations are going on, the bid validity has expired. “We are seeking extension from Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin to take this forward,” said Lanba.

The proposed Indian Navy S-70B variant will include avionics and fl exible open architecture weapons management systems that integrate advanced sonar, 360˚ search radar, modern air-to-surface missiles, and torpedoes for the ASW role. A blade and tail fold capability will facilitate shipboard storage. The S-70B aircraft will also enhance the Indian Navy’s capabilities to perform non-combat maritime roles, including search and rescue, utility and external cargo lift, surveillance and casualty evacuation. This contract is likely to lead the progression for procurement of the transaction for 126 Naval MRHs.

Slow progress on Japan’s US-2 ?

While Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, last year and referred to “the full potential of an India-Japan strategic and global partnership,” he probably had in mind a deal proposed in 2014 for fi nal assembly in India of ShinMaywa’s amphibian US-2s. Japan’s Ministry of Defense has already presented a detailed report on production arrangements for the amphibian in India in 2015 but Indian Government paperwork for clearance of the project is yet to start, AEROSPACE learns. The Indian Navy has an initial requirement for six US-2s and the Indian Coast Guard has asked for three. The envisioned missions include surveillance and reconnaissance, and logistics support and crew rotation to ships. “There is a [strong] business case for this aircraft programme, to meet domestic and export demand,” Sujeet Samaddar, former director and CEO of ShinMaywa Industries India, said last year. Satoru Nagao, Research Fellow at The Tokyo Foundation says following Japan bidding for the $43bn

Australian submarine contract, the fi rst defence export deal since it repealed a 50-year ban on arms exports, a bid it lost says: “India thinks submarines are priority, not US-2 now.” He adds Japan’s own mindset on export of arms, pacifi sts’ resistance and India’s bureaucratic process, “that takes too much time,” have delayed the talks. The US-2 deal could “open the door to get wider range of defence technologies including submarine-related one.”

If India agrees to import the US-2 from Japan, the drive to export more to India could encourage Japan to share higher technology. The US-2 deal could help grow India-Japan defence relations and open the way to co-operation. “This could open an opportunity for the two countries to collaborate on co-production for export to third countries. Thailand and Indonesia are looking to import the US-2. Japan’s high technology and India’s reduced labour charges will be key to lower manufacturing costs.” Final assembly and integration of the US-2 in India is expected to cost 25% less than in Japan,” said Samaddar. “This equipment has the potential to be a symbol of showing presence of India in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea,” Nagao added.

UAVs – a need for more

Last June, after India became a full member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) issued a letter of request to the US to procure 22 multi-mission General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Guardian (a maritime variant of the Predator B) UAV for the Indian Navy via the Foreign Military Sales (FMS). India had also shown an interest in the Predator XP but the international version is only licensed for surveillance.

“We are looking forward to continuing to enhance our co-operation with India by working with the US Government to provide the Indian Navy with persistent, operationally proven maritime domain awareness,” said Linden Blue, CEO, GA-ASI in a statement.

India became the 35th member of the MTCR, an informal and voluntary partnership among 35 countries to prevent the proliferation of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology capable of carrying a 500kg payload for at least 300km.

Also on order: Japanese ShinMaywa amphibian US-2s (left) and the US General Atomics Guardian maritime UAV.

Gen

eral

Ato

mic

s

Shi

nMay

wa

ILYA BURKIN, Head of Business Development EMEA, of specialistsoftware developer Gentrack, asks what affect Brexit might have on thetime needed to process passengers entering or leaving UK airports.

it is likely that the EU and Britain will have to create new protocols for the use of airports by British and EU airlines, not to mention those from the rest of the world. It is possible there will be a change in custom and border control procedures and it is likely that Britain will need to implement passport control on departure from British airports which could lead to increased problems with passenger tracking, queuing times and overall capacity planning for airports.

In 2015, the Department for Transport published a Civil Aviation Authority Passenger Survey asking 20,000 passengers about their experience of airport screening in the UK’s top fi ve airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and Manchester). The report showed fl uctuating results but, overall, the answers pointed to passenger desire for an improvement in the effi ciency of queuing.


AIR TRANSPORTBrexit and UK airports

A longer wait to leave?

Airports, like the aircraft that fl y to and from them, have become sophisticated machines. Passengers today are able to dine and shop before their fl ights, check their fl ight times on social

media and choose to fast track to a dedicated security lane to manage their own queueing time. All this points to a signifi cant gear change in both passenger experience, expectations and the overall intelligence of airport operational systems.

However, with the imminent arrival of Brexit and, more recently, European Commission talks of a bloc visa waiver programme to heighten security, what will happen to the success of queue management and airport capacity when faced with more customer and border control procedures?

Although impossible to predict defi nite changes,

IT IS LIKELY THAT THE EU AND BRITAIN WILL HAVE TO CREATE NEW PROTOCOLS FOR THE USE OF AIRPORTS BY BRITISH AND EU AIRLINES


social and messaging applications and Chat bot technologies used by passengers such as Facebook Messenger that aims to be the core social hub for customers to access information for all of the

products and services relevant to their lives. In a period of ‘Brexit uncertainty’, it

is important for airports to take a multi-faceted approach to their

airport operational management systems. Utilising all the capabilities of geolocation software, customer

interaction through social platforms and the effective use of tracking technology will help

reduce the impact of a mixed-bag of implications leaving the EU has presented.

However, following the decision to leave the EU, passengers could be reporting lower levels of satisfaction when new rules are in place, thanks to more time-consuming procedures such as the introduction of immigration controls on departure being implemented.

Airport technology

Airport technology has played a signifi cant role in the improvement of queue times and satisfaction in UK airports and, although peak holiday periods mean queue times are not completely eradicated, there is still a lot at stake for airports if they do not effectively manage all aspects of the passenger experience.

To improve the border control procedures airports will need to make more effective use of biometric technology, allowing passengers to be uniquely identifi ed, e.g. using fi nger print, voice waives or retina and iris pattern technology. Tracking technology will also identify the location of passengers in the airport and can help monitor the use of existing security lanes, passport controls desks, baggage carousels and other critical resources in the curb-to-air passenger journey.

In sync with this, airports will need to be able to react to passenger fl ow conditions, fl ight disruptions, last minute gate changes and self-serving boarding gates. Software that uses predictive algorithms can forecast potential passenger surges based on historical data and seasonal schedules.

Mintel’s recently published European Consumer Trends 2017 report highlights brands as increasingly using new technology to help consumers decide what to watch, do and eat and that improvements in geolocation and beacon technology will ‘have a knock-on effect on how people are interacting with their immediate surroundings’. This trend should not be ignored by airports who have an opportunity to use technology to not only improve passenger experiences but to also grow revenue streams from retail partners throughout the retail community.

Social media

The Mintel report also points out growing interest in SnapChat and WhatsApp being used to offer superior levels of customer service. Already airports have seen a growth in the use of social channels to communicate messages to passengers, keeping them updated about the latest fl ight and airport situation and allowing them to make informed decisions about how they move around the airport. But they must also keep in mind the rapid emergence of new

Gat

wic

k A

irpor

t

Automated Border Control gates at Gatwick South terminal.

The 2015 CAA Passenger Survey identifi ed queuing for security checks as the most common source of dissatisfaction among outgoing passengers. Longer queues for passport control post Brexit are unlikely to be popular either.

CA

A

iPad showing Gentrack’s 2020 airport app.G

entr

ack

Boom Technology has unveiled plans for a 45-seat commercial supersonicaircraft preceded by a technology demonstrator. But will this projectsucceed where others have failed? BILL READ FRAeS reports.

the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restrictions on fl ying overland due to the noise of the sonic boom. Because of this, Boom’s new design would also be limited to routes over water. According to the company, the SSJ would reduce the transit time between New York and London down to 3.4 hours while fl ying from San Francisco to Tokyo would take 4.7 hours and 6.75 hours between Los Angeles and Sydney.

Technological advantage

According to Boom Technology CEO and founder Blake Scholl, the new SSJ will take advantage of new technology which has been proven in use. “Technology has moved on since Concorde, particularly with the development of more effi cient engines while new construction materials are better able to cope with the


AEROSPACECommercial supersonic transport

Baby boomers

Ever since the retirement of the Air France and British Airways Concordes in 2003, there have been a succession of initiatives to develop a modern supersonic transport replacement,

many of which have failed to get beyond the concept stage. The latest company to propose a ‘Son of Concorde’ design is Denver-based Boom Technology which has unveiled plans for a new 45-seat commercial supersonic jet (SSJ).

The 170ft long, 60ft wingspan Boom SSJ design will feature a delta wing confi guration and a swept trailing edge. Powered by three medium-bypass turbofans, the Boom SSJ would be able to fl y at a maximum cruising speed of Mach 2.2 (1,451mph) with a maximum range of 9,000nm.

However, a problem which limited the development of Concorde still remains, namely

Technical illustrations of the Boom XB-1 technical demonstrator showing (a) the chine wing extension (b) the area-ruled tapering of the rear fuselage (c) variable geometry supersonic intakes. (All illustrations from Boom Technology)

A B C

Boom SSJ

45PASSENGERS

9,000nmRANGE

Mach 2.2SPEED

Boo

m T

echn

olog

y


Boom is sourcing the components for the SSJ from different suppliers. Tencate will provide carbon fi bre while the composite structures will be fabricated by Blue Force. The skin components of the aircraft will feature a layer of copper mesh for lightning protection.

Inside the SSJ

The standard production Boom SSJ will be able to carry up to 45 passengers, four fl ight attendants

and two crew. A high-density version is also being considered which could accommodate up to 55 passengers. All the seats on the standard version will have a large personal window, direct aisle access and a dedicated overhead bin. There will also be two lavatories. The cabin would be fi tted with an environmental control system which takes compressed air from the engines, cools it through a fuel/air heat

exchanger and then expands it to a comfortable cabin pressure. A dual redundant oxygen system

is available in case of loss of cabin pressure.The cockpit will be fi tted with Honeywell

avionics, as well as centre sticks and rudder pedals for both seats, allowing a pilot in either seat to fl y the aircraft. A manually-controlled hydraulically-powered system will enable the pilots to fl y with

a lightweight touch while giving precise, responsive control of roll, pitch, and yaw. It

will also include an electronic yaw damper that will provide control across a wide range of

speeds.

Baby Boom demonstrator

To trial the technologies to be used in the full-size Boom SSJ, Boom Technology is constructing a 1/3 scale version XB-1 Supersonic Demonstrator. Nicknamed the ‘Baby Boom’, the 68ft long, 17ft

wingspan prototype is to be assembled at Boom’s headquarters at Centennial Airport in Denver.

The aircraft’s systems have been ground tested, initial structural components are in fabrication and fi nal assembly and vehicle integration is to commence shortly.

The XB-1 will have an airworthiness certifi cate in the experimental R&D category and will be used to demonstrate the key technologies for effi cient

supersonic fl ight, namely an advanced aerodynamic design, lightweight materials

capable of withstanding the pressures and temperatures of supersonic fl ight and an

effi cient super-cruise propulsion system. As with the full-size aircraft, the demonstrator will also feature an area-ruled fuselage, a refi ned delta wing and a chine wing extension.

The XB-1 will be powered by three 3,500lb

rigours of supersonic fl ight,” says Scholl.The principal three innovations will be

medium-bypass turbofan engines based on a commercial engine core, advanced aerodynamics optimised through simulation tests and carbon fi bre reinforced plastic.

Aerodynamic features

Using data gained from over a thousand simulated wind-tunnel tests, the SSJ has incorporated three additional aerodynamic features: an area-ruled fuselage, a chine, and a refi ned delta wing. “The Boom aircraft is much more dynamically shaped,” says Scholl. “Supersonic performance is highly sensitive to aircraft cross-sectional area, so the fuselage is ‘area ruled’, where the cross-section area is carefully controlled to reduce disturbances to the surrounding air. Our aircraft features a gentle tapering in the aft cabin where the wings are thickest, reducing cross section and disturbances to the surrounding air. The centre of lift shifts aft as a supersonic aircraft gains speed, creating challenges for balance and control. To mitigate this shift, we incorporate a chine wing extension that stretches toward the nose which generates more lift supersonicly than subsonicly, contributing to a natural balance across a wide range of speeds. At take-off and landing, the chine generates a stable overwing vortex, increasing lift and reducing take-off and landing speeds.”

The wing of the SSJ also features high-effi ciency aerofoils, a gentle camber and a swept trailing edge which reduces supersonic-induced drag and reduces the sonic boom.

New materials

Boom has also been able to take advantage of newer, lighter materials that were not available when the Concorde was built. Instead of aluminum alloy, the SSJ will use moulded layers of resin-infused carbon fabric to create a strong and lightweight structure in the exact dynamic shape desired. According to Boom, this will enable the SSJ to fl y faster than Concorde, as carbon-based materials are better able to handle the stresses of supersonic fl ight and will not expand as much as aluminium at the high temperatures encountered at speeds of over Mach 2.2.

Boom

Technology

Engineering development of the XB-1 Baby Boom is in progress.

Initial structural components are in fabrication.

Each passenger seat in the SSJ will have a large personal window.

An artist’s impression of Boom Technology’s proposed 45-seat commercial supersonic jet next to the XB-1 ‘Baby Boom’ technology demonstrator that will be used to test the concept.

Boom

TechnologyB

oom Technology


AEROSPACECommercial supersonic transport

thrust General Electric J85-21 turbojets (as used in the F-5), two located under the wing and one in the tail. Each engine will be fed by two variable geometry supersonic intakes which will compress oncoming Mach 2.2 air, effi ciently slowing to the ideal subsonic speed for the engine. Digitally-controlled movable surfaces precisely position shock waves to achieve ideal compression at a wide range of speeds and fl ight conditions, while blow-in doors provide extra airfl ow for take-off. Each engine will also be fi tted with a variable geometry nozzle system.

The full size Boom SSJ will also be powered by three engines but a manufacturer has not yet been selected. Boom believes that using medium bypass engines will provide the SSJ with suffi cient thrust for supersonic fl ight while also reducing noise around airports. The company also decided on Mach 2.2 as being the optimal speed to fl y, as this will enable the aircraft to comply both with airport noise regulations and to operate effi ciently at cruise speeds. “We decided to use three engines to help lower take-off noise,” explains Scholl. “Three-engine aircraft are also treated as more reliable by FAA regulations and the ETOPS (extended range twin engine operational performance standards) rules permit new three-engine aircraft to fl y more directly over water routes than twins, leading to faster fl ight times.”

The Supersonic ChallengeProf Jeff Jupp FRAeS, former Chairman of the RAeS Greener by Design Group, considers some of the technical and economic challenges facing a return to commercial supersonic fl ight.

The demonstrator will store 7,000lb of jet fuel in 11 separate fuel tanks. An aft trim tank would hold fuel during supersonic fl ight, shifting the aircraft’s centre-of-gravity as the centre of lift moves backwards.

Boom Technology plans to begin the fi rst test fl ights of the Baby Boom at the end of 2017. The demonstrator will be capable of the same Mach 2.2 speed as the larger SSJ. Subsonic tests will be fl own from Centennial airport and supersonic test fl ights in a supersonic test corridor near Edwards AFB in California. The supersonic tests of the prototype will be conducted with the assistance of The Spaceship Company, the manufacturing arm

Mock-up of the XB-1 Baby Boom demonstrator.

Supersonic challenges

A successor to Concorde was being investigated long before its retirement in 2003. To make an adequate business case a large aircraft with transpacifi c range was considered by a European consortium including British Aerospace in the 1990s. However, apart from the formidable technical challenges, the business case just did not make sense. It was found that all classes of passengers were prepared to pay a premium of an extra one third of their normal fare to halve the fl ight time. This was not enough to support the purchase price and direct operating costs of such an aircraft even if sold in hundreds – which also would have raised a major environmental concern with that number of aircraft fl ying at 50,000 to 60,000ft altitude. However, with today’s advances and, if the size of the aircraft is reduced, the technical problems should certainly be more manageable.

Starting with the sonic boom, to a fi rst order for a correctly designed aircraft, there are only two things that matter, the boom being proportional to the weight and inversely proportional to the length of the aircraft. So a small, lightweight, long ‘needle nose’ aircraft may well generate a low boom which is tolerable for overland routing. Hence the current interest in supersonic business jets. The business case may also hold up, as although the aircraft will be expensive the clientele will not be too concerned at the cost of travel and with the relatively small numbers the environmental impact may well be tolerated.

However, an aircraft carrying 45 passengers plus crew is potentially a much more demanding project! Certainly, one can see a major reduction in the weight of the aircraft relative to Concorde

but signifi cant concerns must still be there on whether the boom will restrict the aircraft to overwater operation and whether the take-off noise would be tolerated. Today’s engines are certainly more effi cient and quieter than Concorde but unfortunately high bypass fans are not usable at supersonic speeds, as the jet exhaust velocity must be higher than the fl ight speed to generate any thrust. This will demand a bypass ratio of order 1 rather than the ten of modern subsonic transports, maintaining the emphasis very much on take-off noise. While Concorde had a derogation from the noise regulations, that was only because of very infrequent exposure. It

would be virtually inconceivable for such a derogation to be given from today’s much tighter noise

requirements if the aircraft was to

be sold in suffi cient numbers to make commercial sense. Maintenance

costs are another issue, with more complex systems such as the variable intakes and fuel centre of gravity management.With a high purchase price per seat and inevitably high fuel and maintenance charges, for the fare to remain at levels that will attract enough passengers, the business case is only likely to make sense if considerable numbers are sold, exacerbating the sonic boom, noise and environmental concerns.

So, while being much more amenable to technical solutions today, the challenges facing the Boom Supersonic project remain formidable, particularly the economic one! Nonetheless, Boom have assembled a very experienced team and they may well deliver a successful project!

Boo

m T

echn

olog

yB

oom

Tec

hnol

ogy


of Virgin Galactic. In addition to fl ight test support and operations, The Spaceship Company will also supply Boom Technology with engineering and manufacturing services. Following the fl ight tests of the Baby Boom, work will begin on the full-size version of the aircraft which Boom hopes to begin fl ying in the early 2020s.

Commercial rationale

However, while the engineering challenges of supersonic fl ight are being tackled, what are the economic prospects for a new commercial supersonic passenger aircraft when Concorde (and its only rival the Russian Tupolev Tu-144) failed to be an economic success?

Blake Scholl is confi dent that the aircraft will be a success. “Every passenger wants faster fl ights; every airline would like to offer a faster and more differentiated service to their passengers,” he remarks. “The question is costs and fares. Concorde was troubled by high operating costs, driven by fuel consumption, and low utilisation and load factors, due to the necessarily high fares. The viability of supersonic fl ight depends on the ability to reduce operating costs suffi ciently to allow a viable business model, i.e. it must be possible to achieve good load factors and strong margins, at fares passengers will pay. Surprisingly, this requires just a 30% effi ciency improvement over Concorde’s 50 year-old airframe and engines. The fundamental technologies required for this exist today and have recently been accepted by regulators (such as composite structures).”

Scholl also views the smaller size of the SSJ as an advantage. “A major problem with Concorde is that it had more seats than could be fi lled at the required prices,” he comments. “The Boom aircraft has 45 seats, similar to the premium cabin in a typical widebody aircraft. If you can fl y a widebody aircraft with good load factor, you can also fl y a Boom aircraft with the same schedule with good load factors.”

Boom has announced that it intends to market the SSJ for $200m, excluding options and interior. The aircraft could also be confi gured as an ultra VIP personal or business aircraft. The company has already secured its fi rst tentative order for 15 options from an unamed European airline. In exchange for its help in developing the design, Virgin has the option to purchase the fi rst ten aircraft.

Tickets for the initial commercial fl ights of the Boom SSJ are expected to cost about $5,000, compared to an average of $12,000 for Concorde. Scholl believes that passengers will pay more for speed. “Today, passengers pay a 4-5X premium for business class, even though those seats don’t arrive any sooner than economy,” he says. “Passengers will pay a premium for non-stop service, so it is reasonable to expect higher fares for still faster service.”

Other SSJ projects

The Aerion Corporation has been working for a number of years on its 170ft long, 61ft wingspan, 12-seat Mach 1.5 AS2 design. In 2014, Aerion joined forces with Airbus to develop the engineering aspects of the AS2 which included the construction of a sample titanium wing leading-edge section.

Spike Aerospace is developing the 18-seat Spike S-512 SSJ capable of fl ying up to Mach 1.6.

NASA and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works have been working on the Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) programme with the aim of reducing the sonic boom to acceptable levels to allow the use of SSJs over land. Lockheed is currently working on a preliminary design for a 90ft long demonstration aircraft designed to fl y at Mach 1.4.

In 2015, Airbus fi led a patent for a 2,500mph ‘ultra-rapid air vehicle’ powered by a combination of conventional jet engines, ramjets and a rocket motor which could carry up to 20 passengers over a range of 5,500 miles at an altitude of up to 100,000ft.

Several companies are also working on SSJ designs, concentrating on the executive and business market.

Aer

ion

Cor

pora

tion

Spi

ke A

eros

pace

NA

SA

/Loc

khee

d M

artim

Airb

us

Established as a key event in the social calendar of the aviation and aerospace community, the Royal Aeronautical Society Annual Banquet attracts high level industry attendance and offers the ideal opportunity for networking and corporate entertainment.

Individual tickets and corporate tables are available with discounted rates for RAeS Members and Corporate Partners.

Venue

The InterContinental London Park Lane,One Hamilton Place, London W1J 7QY, UK

Programme

Reception: 7.15pmDinner: 8.00pm

What’s included?

This black tie event includes a pre-dinner networking reception followed by an exquisite four-course dinner with fine wines and coffee.

Enquiries to:Gail Ward, Events Manager – Corporate & SocietyRoyal Aeronautical SocietyT: +44 (0)1491 629 912 / E: [email protected]

www.aerosociety.com/banquet

Thursday 11 May 2017 / London

Supported by

2017ANNUAL BANQUET

39FEBRUARY 2017

Afterburner

40 Message from RAeS- President“At the last Council meeting in November, as well as electing Rear Admiral Simon Henley MBE CEng FRAeS to the post of President-Elect for 2017-18, Council reviewed and discussed our membership and international strategies. Our thanks are due to the individuals who gave up so much of their time to put together two comprehensive briefs, which came in at over 100 pages and 40 recommendations each!”

- Chief Executive“Much interest has been shown for events in 2017; these aim to form both a ‘legacy’ programme following the 150th anniversary celebrations, as well as mark another RAeS milestone in 2017: the 20th anniversary of the RAeS Careers department following its launch in July 1997.”

42 Book ReviewsUnmanned Systems of World Wars I and II, Truculent Tribes Turbulent Skies and Ernsting’s Aviation and Space Medicine.

45 Library AdditionsBooks submitted to the National Aerospace Library.

46 Go For Gold2066, the Society’s bicentennial year, touched down briefl y at No.4 Hamilton Place 50 years ahead of time on 28 November 2016. The occasion was the fi nal of the 150th anniversary celebration ‘Go for Gold Challenge’.

48 Weybridge BranchGrp Capt Jock Heron describes the RAF Harrier in the Cold War.

50 New Corporate PartnersThe end of 2016 saw a fl urry of new companies join the Society’s Corporate Partner Scheme.

52 DiaryFind out when and where around the world the latest aeronautical and aerospace lectures and events are happening.

55 Prestwick Branch‘Prest-Aero’ – a different approach to aeronautical STEM.

57 Young Persons ForumOver 60 early-career aerospace professionals gathered at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester for the Annual Young Persons Forum; the fi rst one to be held outside of London.

www.aerosociety.com

i fFind us on Twitter Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

A Lockheed Martin F -35B departs the USS America during recent tests. Lockheed Martin.

Diary16 MarchBirmingham, Wolverhampton and Cosford BranchJ D North LectureLightning IIRear-Admiral Rick Thompson

40

Message from RAeSOUR PRESIDENT

Prof Chris Atkin

I’LL START BY OFFERING A SYNOPSIS OF THE VIEWS OF THE INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY WORKING GROUP


Afterburner

At the last Council meeting in November, as well as electing Rear Admiral Simon Henley MBE CEng FRAeS to the post of President-Elect for 2017-18, Council reviewed and discussed our membership and international strategies. Our thanks are due to the individuals who gave up so much of their time to put together two comprehensive briefs, which came in at over 100 pages and 40 recommendations each!

I’ll start by offering a synopsis of the views of the international strategy working group, mainly because many of their recommendations encompassed measures to increase the impact of our entire Branch and Corporate Partner network which also emerged from the membership review, which I’ll focus on in March. The international angle is important to the Society, for two reasons. Firstly, a signifi cant proportion (18%) of our membership is based outside the UK. Secondly, the vast majority of aerospace professionals either work in transnational organisations or deliver their products and/or services to a global market. It is therefore inconceivable that the Society should not take an international outlook: the question is how to do this effectively.

The Society has members in 105 countries; around 45% of our Branches are located outside the UK. Roughly half of these lie within our four Divisions but we also have a signifi cant presence in continental Europe and in North America (US and Canada) and a growing footprint around the Gulf of Arabia. Most of the specifi c recommendations to strengthen the international network of Branches and Corporate Partners would apply equally to the UK, so I shall share these next month. However, I will report that the working group highlighted that these regions were under-represented in terms of ‘air time’ in AEROSPACE, on the website and the Society’s YouTube channel.

One of the caveats raised about our international activity is that we promote ‘UK-type’ initiatives (such as professional development) where the market is not receptive. However, our members are versatile people and local Branch committees are more than capable of ‘tuning’ their offering and innovating where necessary! Competition with existing national associations is perhaps a more critical issue. In my view, the secret to successful international operation is to offer activities which are complementary to the local association or, where there is a clear overlap in activities, to make sure that the Society works collaboratively. There is

something jarring about a learned society engaging in aggressive competition. The Society, of course, has many unique characteristics and offerings which should put us in a good position to engage amicably with other international bodies.

Also relevant to the international discussion is the large number of MoUs already signed with organisations around the world which, for whatever reason, have resulted in little activity. One of the conclusions of the working group is that such opportunities need to be better linked into the Society’s Specialist Groups: interactions with international consortia such as ICAO, ICAS and CEAS would be much stronger if driven by the relevant specialists within the Society rather than by Council (as, for example, with the IPTA).

In terms of future growth, the recommendation is (perhaps unsurprisingly) that the Society should focus its efforts in regions of strong aerospace and aviation activity; this also adds benefi t to our many existing members with interests in those regions. For regions where there are insuffi cient concentrations of members to sustain a Branch, the idea of regional RAeS ‘ambassadors’ was mooted, to improve connectivity with all our international members. It is clear that, as both the number and size of the Branches grow, the point will come when there is a need to provide some co-ordination and focus at a national or regional level. The current Divisional model is not the obvious solution for providing regional governance where the Branch network straddles national boundaries: there is therefore an option for the Society to devise an alternative system of regional governance for such cases. One of the key questions around regional governance is autonomy, particularly in terms of raising revenue and employing staff, both of which are necessary – I believe – to reach critical mass in delivering services locally. Yet the Society’s international presence, our reputation and the relationships with and between members all need central oversight, so autonomy cannot be absolute!

All these questions around increasing internationalisation of the Society’s activities are extremely complex – so don’t expect major initiatives this year! Workable solutions will, in my view, only start to emerge when regular communication and interaction across the time-zones becomes the norm in the Society’s day-to-day business. This is certainly one of our strategic objectives but we’re not quite there yet.

Simon C Luxmoore

THANKS TO THE SUPPORT OF AIRBUS GROUP, RAES BRANCHES, CORPORATE PARTNERS AND EDUCATIONAL PARTNERS, 2016 WAS A RECORD-BREAKING YEAR FOR THE SOCIETY’S COOL AERONAUTICS PROGRAMME

OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE

FEBRUARY 2017 41

The Singapore Branch of the RAeS was first formed in 1953 and was one of the first RAeS Branches formed outside of the UK. After a recent pause in activity, I am delighted that the re-launch lecture evening on 16 January marks the start of a full programme of Singapore Branch events scheduled for 2017 to serve the many RAeS members in the region.

Congratulations to AM Sir Richard Garwood, Director General, Defence Safety Authority appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 New Year Honours. We were particularly delighted, as the Air Marshal delivered our first Corporate Partner Briefing at the Society during January.

I would also like to congratulate CBE recipients Gp Capt Richard Barrow FRAeS and Air Cdre Keith Bethell FRAeS and those receiving an MBE: Wg Cdr Benjamin Trapnell MRAeS and Sidney Hawkins AMRAeS from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.

Thanks to the support of Airbus Group, RAeS Branches, Corporate Partners and educational partners, 2016 was a record-breaking year for the Society’s Cool Aeronautics programme. While we did not reach our target of 150 schools, we did reach more schools than ever before and put on some fantastic events across three continents. In total, we reached 2,210 children from 75 primary schools who attended 30 events in the UK, Ireland, Dubai and New Zealand, more than doubling the average annual impact of previous years’ events.

2016 also saw the launch of the ‘Cool Aeronautics Wings’ and all children attending received their special badges which we hope they will keep and use in future years as a non-intrusive way of seeing the longer-term impact of the events.

Much interest has been shown for events in 2017; these aim to form both a ‘legacy’ programme following the 150th anniversary celebrations, as well as mark another RAeS milestone in 2017: the 20th anniversary of the RAeS Careers department following its launch in July 1997. We aim to mark the anniversary by increasing awareness and support for our programmes with industry, government and thanking key stakeholders, as well as surveying young people’s perceptions of the sector.

There will be continued focus on delivering programmes for young people, including The Ballantyne, Schools Build-a-Plane Challenge, Falcon Initiative and Careers in Aerospace LIVE and a new issue of our popular aerospace and aviation careers magazine, Career Flightpath, and the launch of a new Careers in Aerospace website for which development is underway in partnership with ADS Group.

As part of the Society’s 150th anniversary activities, the Boscombe Down Branch launched a challenge to local schools to design, build and launch a payload and balloon to travel higher, further and longer than anyone else. I am delighted to announce that Epsom College won prizes for the greatest altitude, distance and endurance with Ryde School with Upper Chine in the Isle of Wight winning the Chris Hillcox HAB Supplies prize for a commendable flight achievement. Our thanks go to sponsors, QinetiQ, University of Southampton and HAB Supplies, with support from Cameron Balloons, and all those committee members who worked so hard to organise the balloon challenge.

I’d like to remind all our members and Corporate Partners that the deadline for submitting nominations to the Society’s 2017 Honours, Medals & Awards is 31 March 2017. Peer recognition is a powerful motivator and reward for your suppliers, employees and international teams. I hope you will take the opportunity to put forward your colleagues or teams who have made notable achievements to advancing aerospace and aviation across the world.


One of three 2016 Cool Aeronautics events held by the Bristol Branch, this one was in the At-Bristol science centre.

Book Reviews


Afterburner

UNMANNED SYSTEMS OF WORLD WARS I AND II

Above: RAE Larynx No 3 guided anti-ship weapon on HMS Strongpoint – October 1927.Below: The third Operation Backfi re V-2 shortly after launch from Cuxhaven on its way to a landing in the North Sea, 15 October 1945. RAeS (NAL).

By H R EverettThe MIT Press, Suite 2, 1 Duchess Street, London W1W 6AN, UK. 2015. 757pp. Illustrated. £54.95. ISBN 978-0-262-02922-3.

In 2017, a launch and recovery team, somewhere on the planet, will prepare for fl ight and get airborne an MQ-1 Predator, ready to hand-over to a mission control team. This method of operation has been employed for remotely-piloted air systems since WW2. This fact, and many thousand others, covering tethered torpedoes, unmanned surface vehicles, wireless submersibles, unmanned air vehicles and unmanned ground vehicles are contained in this astounding work of research. There are 650 pages of text, photographs, video captures, patent application diagrams, circuit diagrams, and line drawings, plus a further 100 pages of Notes, References and Index.

I restricted my review of H R Everett’s work for the Royal Aeronautical Society to the sections covering airborne systems; to review the whole book in any meaningful depth would require many pages of text in AEROSPACE magazine. To attempt to read the whole works would not be for the faint of heart.

The author has brought together existing accounts, and his own work, of historic events in chronological order, so that seemingly unrelated developments around the world can be compared and contrasted. It was fascinating to read that, across the globe, similar technologies were being developed for unmanned systems and, here and there, breakthroughs were made and failures encountered. Notional as well as deployed systems are covered. We learn of whole programmes of work being cancelled due to an incremental increase in technology in a related area, for example, the remote-controlled delivery of atomic test-weapons programme was shelved, as bomb-retard parachute technology had developed enough to allow manned bomber crews to escape the blast area in time. The reader is able to take an overview of the development of technology, whole systems and individual pieces of equipment through the fi rst part of the 20th century.

We learn that: airships were radio-controlled prior to WW1; automatically-controlled balloons (Fu-Go) were launched from Japan to fl y within jetstreams over the Pacifi c to the US where they would release incendiary bombs; WW2 bombers, heavily laden with explosives, were be taken off by brave pilots who, after handing over to a shepherding aircraft controller, bailed out so the bomber could be directed to the target; the ‘Foo Fighter’ phenomenon may have been a sophisticated decoy employed by the Germans to distract Allied bomber crews, or an hallucinogenic result of battle fatigue.

Between the wars, roles for the unmanned air systems seemed to fall into two categories: ordnance delivery aircraft (assault drones) and remotely-piloted aerial targets. The author has some incredible detail on systems probably not covered in any other literature commonly available. Allegedly, in recognition of and to link to the established British ‘Queen Bee’ aerial target system, on setting up their own programme to get an aerial target capability (for aerial gunnery and anti-aircraft training), the US Navy fi rst coined the term ‘drones’ for their systems. Furthermore, of the Queen Bee manned test-fl ights, we learn “further tests were carried out and it was found that, as the control transmission ceased, the radio picked up a dance band programme from Radio Paris, converting the signal into aerobatic commands quite unknown to the Central Flying School.”

Described in moderate detail is the fi rst ever attempted radio-controlled drone attack on operational forces. This goes to the Italians with their ‘Operazione Canarino’ – a three-engined Marchetti SM-79 Sparviero loaded with explosives on a one-way mission to the British fl eet in the Mediterranean Sea. The SM-79 took off from Villacidro in Sardinia with the take-off pilot bailing out successfully after the shepherding aircraft had gained control. However, later in the mission it lost control and fl ew into mountains in North Africa.

As you may expect given the nationality of the author, his book contains quite a bit of detail on US systems. However, coupled with the lesser accounts of ‘foreign’ systems, the author does seem to comprehensively cover most remotely-piloted projects in existence during WW1, the intervening years, WW2 and up to the end of the 1950s. One of the more in-depth accounts is Project Option.

Project Option involved bomb-laden Grumman Avengers, converted to remote control, with remote

FEBRUARY 2017 43i fFind us on Twitter Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

Chapters are devoted to the various campaigns and signifi cant events, such as the Cairo Conference of 1921. Forty tables detail units and aircraft and 22 maps help the reader to appreciate locations and distances. Seven appendices cover the RN and the FAA, the pioneers and the airlines, training and the identity of the leading players. Of particular note are the 560 photographs, few of which have been published before. Their quality and the standard of reproduction is generally fi rst class and they help to make this hardback of A4 size a fascinating book which is worth the cover price, especially for members of Air-Britain.

Sir Roger AustinKCB AFC

The fl ying was demanding. Many of the aircraft were quite old, temperatures often exceeded 100°F and the sand was a constant nuisance

TRUCULENT TRIBES TURBULENT SKIESThe RAF in the Near and Middle East 1919-1939By V FlinthamAir-Britain (Historians), Unit 1A, Munday Works Industrial Estate, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1RA, UK. 2015. 304pp. Illustrated. £34.95 (Air-Britain members); £52.50 (non-members). ISBN 978-0-85130-468-7.

In the period between the two World Wars, the Royal Air Force was in continuous action and much of it was in the Near and Middle East. A relatively small operation in Somaliland in 1920, involving 14 DH9 bombers and 3,600 local ground forces, was successful and was followed by a much larger campaign in Mesopotamia and these did much to ensure to continued existence of the Royal Air Force.

During this period, the rules of Army Co-operation were written. The fl ying was demanding. Many of the aircraft were quite old, temperatures often exceeded 100°F and the sand was a constant nuisance. Much of the terrain was inhospitable, as were the natives on the ground. As the Air Ministry controlled both military and civilian fl ying, Royal Air Force stations were expected to assist the pioneers establishing routes to India and beyond and the airlines which followed and provided a service.

Vic Flintham sets out to cover 20 years in the area from the Balkans to Iran and including the Horn of Africa and he does it well. His narrative is detailed but very readable and his assessment of the outcome of operations is measured, unsensational and credible.

Described in moderate detail is the fi rst ever attempted radio-controlled drone attack on operational forces

take-off pilots handing over to ‘mid course’ pilots (airborne in a visual control set-up) who handed over to a ‘terminal phase’ pilot, who guided the drone into its target using a TV link (a camera situated in the nose of the remote aircraft provided the video). About 100 drones were built, achieving a 46% hit-rate in the fi rst 30 days of operations in the Pacifi c, compared to 1-2% for other unmanned systems of the time.

By contrast, of the German V-1 and V-2 systems, of which 35,000 and 6,000 respectively were built, are dealt with in fewer than two pages. Rest assured though, both these systems are covered in great detail elsewhere. I believe it was the author’s aim to draw together as much knowledge as he could about the lesser-known, perhaps lost or previously secret systems; an aim he achieves in abundance. He does recognise, though, such an aim is probably a never-ending one, as for some systems he discovers: “More investigation of this topic is obviously required.”

In the post-war transition chapter, which rounds off the book, the author combines air, surface and ground-based systems but with most text covering airborne systems. Much of this section is given over to the surface and airborne systems devoted to the atomic weapons testing programme (air sampling, photography, etc); there is an account on some US drone activity in the Korean War. Developments in aerial targetry are also covered. The author recognises that assault drones were largely abandoned in this period due to the increased development activity in guided missiles.

This is not a book to be taken on holiday despite the fact it is well-written; it is more a great addition to a technical library and a reference source. It ensures that the remarkable accomplishments that our predecessors achieved, with so little, will not be forgotten.

Tim MarshallCEng FIMechE

A Hawker Hardy dropping a message over Ramleh Aerodrome in the 1930s. Library of Congress.

44

Book ReviewsAfterburner


ERNSTING’S AVIATION AND SPACE MEDICINE

fatigue is described and well discussed. Let us all hope that the airlines pay heed to the problems that we know exist and are described here.

It is diffi cult to fi nd fault with the layout and contents of this book. It has to be one of the best aviation medicine sources of information available today. Anyone who wishes to study for the Diploma in Aviation Medicine or need any information for any other aviation medicine paper or postgraduate course needs this book.

Every aviation medical practitioner should have a copy on their library shelves to help them diagnose and treat many of the problems we see in clinical aviation medicine today. It will also help them return any unfi t pilot or cabin crew back to normal fl ying duties. The in-fl ight treatment, handling and transport of sick passengers is well described and how to get them home safely or to a special medical facility, no matter how infectious or injured they may be.

From the decompression sickness caused by diving and fl ying, all the way up to the problems associated with and occurring during space travel, this edition has surpassed the previous ones. Uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) are a new area for our attention.

Professor John Ernsting, I am sure, is proud of his students and their protégées, who have contributed to this fi ne outstanding book.

Dr Ian PerryDAvMed(London) FRAeS

Edited by D P Gradwell and D P Rainford

CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742, USA. 2016. Distributed by Taylor & Francis Group, 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon OX14 4RN, UK. 904pp. Illustrated. £160. [20% discount available to RAeS members via www.crcpress.com using AKQ07 promotion code]. ISBN 978-1444179941.

Once again it has been a privilege and a pleasure to review this the fi fth edition of what can best be described as now, the Aviation Medicine Bible. I reviewed the last edition in February 2008 and enjoyed reading the book then, all 850 pages of A4 size paper.

Professor David Gradwell and Dr David Rainford have done well to contain the new edition to the same size, including its new chapters on space medicine and the aeromedical aspects of remotely piloted vehicles. I found this new edition easier to read than the last, with good summaries at the end of each chapter and section.

Since the last edition I had the honour of being the Chairman of the Scholarship Committee for the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine. In this role I came to examine and assess many ab initio and postgraduate students of aviation medicine from right around the world. This entailed studying the way they were educated and what books they had read or were reading. Some of these books and papers left a lot to be desired, many were based on old papers often translated from diffi cult languages and loosely put together in book form. As such I came to read and study many of them. Much of the content of these training books was out of date by some years and they were poorly presented, making learning diffi cult.

This book, however, outshines them all. It is a collection of papers but well written and updated with latest innovations and thinking by some of our best specialists in their chosen subjects, with contributions by NASA, the USAF, from Canada and New Zealand.

It is very tempting having read the whole book to write similar comments as before, but this would not be true, as it has all been updated from the last edition.

The length and breadth of the contents cover a wide spectrum of aviation physiology and medicine from all aspects. Regulatory aviation medicine continues to evolve, not always along the lines that some of us might want, but consensus is better than no agreement at all, so we hope that common sense and scientifi c reason will eventually prevail. Aircrew

Above: Capt Christopher Stricklin ejects from the USAF Thunderbirds number six aircraft less than a second before it impacted the ground at an air show at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. USAF/Staff Sgt Bennie J Davis III.

ESA astronaut Tim Peake using ESA’s muscle measurement machine Mares on the International Space Station to research into muscle atrophy. ESA/NASA.

FEBRUARY 2017 45

Library Additions


FLIGHT TESTING

Testing to the Limits: British Test Pilots since 1910. Vol 2 – James to Zurakowski. K Ellis. Crecy Publishing, 1a Ringway Trading Estate, Shawdowmoss Road, Manchester M22 5LH, UK. 2016. 336pp. Illustrated. £24.95. ISBN 978-0-8597-9185-4.

HISTORICAL

Junkers G 24, K 30 and G 31: Stepping Stones. L Andersson et al. EAM Books EEIG, 3 Gatesmead, Haywards Heath RH16 1SN, UK (E [email protected]). 2016. 192pp. Illustrated. £30 (inclusive of UK postage/packing). ISBN 978-0-9573744-2.

The Fairey Barracuda. M Willis. Published by Stratus, Poland, on behalf of Mushroom Model Publications, 3 Gloucester Close, Petersfi eld, Hants GU32 3AX, UK (www.mmpbooks.biz). 2016. 168pp. Illustrated. £19. ISBN 978-83-65281-24-1.

Numerous photographs and other line/colour diagrams illustrate this detailed history of the fi rst monoplane torpedo bomber operated by the Fleet Air Arm.

Hawker Hunters at War: Iraq and Jordan, 1958-1967. T Cooper and P Salti. Helion Company Limited, 26 Willow Road, Solihull B91 1UE, UK. 2016. Distributed by Casemate, 10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EW, UK. 64pp. Illustrated. £16.95. ISBN 978-1-911096-25-2.

A detailed account of the role which the Hawker Hunter served in the Royal Iraqi Air Force (RIrAF) and Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF).

North American P-51D Mustang. R Peczkowski. Published by Stratus, Poland, on behalf of Mushroom Model Publications, 3 Gloucester Close, Petersfi eld, Hants

GU32 3AX, UK (www.mmpbooks.biz). 2016. 152pp. Illustrated. £19. ISBN 978-83-65281-23-4.

Numerous colour and black-and-white photographs and other diagrams illustrate this detailed pictorial survey of the famous American fi ghter aircraft, the P-51D, with its bubble canopy, the best-known variant.

The Pulitzer Air Races: American Aviation and Speed Supremacy, 1920-1925. M Gough. McFarland & Company, Inc, Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640, USA. 2013. 238pp. Illustrated. $45. ISBN 978-0-7864-7100-3.

A well-illustrated detailed history of the six annual Pulitzer Trophy air races which were formative in advancing aircraft design in America, the book concluding with an appendix recording technical details of all the competing aircraft.

Orville’s Aviators: Outstanding Alumni of the Wright Flying School 1910-1916. J C Edwards. McFarland & Company, Inc, Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640, USA. 2009. 189pp. Illustrated. $35. ISBN 978-0-7864-4227-0.

Beginning with a concise history of the Wright School of Aviation which operated from Simms Station, Huffman Prairie 1910-1916, this book focuses on the lives of six of its students – Arthur L Welsh, Howard Gill, Arch Freeman, Grover Bergdoll, George Gray and Howard Rinehart.

LIGHTER-THAN-AIR

Ballooning: a History 1782-1900. S L Kotar and J E Gessler. McFarland & Company, Inc, Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640, USA. 2011. 295pp. Illustrated. $45. ISBN 978-0-7864-4941-5.

An informative history of the leading personalities in the development of early ballooning in Europe

and America from the fi rst pioneering aerial voyages of 1783 through to the end of the 19th century.

SPACE

Eisenhower at the Dawn of the Space Age: Sputnik, Rockets, and Helping Hands. M Shanahan. Lexington Books, Lanham, MD. 2017. Distributed by Rowman & Littlefi eld, 10 Thornbury Road, Plymouth, Devon PL6 7PP, UK. 207pp. £54.95. ISBN 978-1-4985-2814-6.

PAPERS

De Havilland Rocket Engines: Part 1 – The Special Projects Group and the Origins of the Sprite Rocket Engine. Extract from Space Chronicle Vol 69. A Chatwin. The British Interplanetary Society, London. 2016. pp 86-102. Illustrated.

No 2 Squadron – the Irish Connection: Extract from The Irish Sword: the Journal of the Military History Society of Ireland Vol XXVI (106) Winter 2009. G Warner. pp 415-426. Illustrated.

A study – based on contemporary newspaper reports – of the operations of six aircraft from Royal Flying Corps No 2 Squadron based at Montrose which participated in the Irish Command manoeuvres of September 1913 centred on Rathbane Camp near Limerick.

SYMPOSIA

Proceedings of the First National Clinic of Domestic Aviation Planning: Oklahoma City, November 11, 12 and 13 1943. Edited by S R Cohen. Chamber of Commerce, Oklahoma City. c.1943. 277pp. Illustrated.

Various authors review the potential post-war development of US commercial aviation and the role of the aircraft industry, including the impact of the post-war disposal of ex-military aircraft, air cargo, war contracts, aviation training and helicopter development in the fi rst conference of its kind held in American aviation. Following endorsements by Gill Robb Wilson, President Franklin D Roosevelt and L Welch Pogue, the speakers include Harllee Branch, William A M Burden, George A Bryant, Col Edgar S Gorrell, T E Braniff, Wayne

W Parrish, Frank P Fogarty, C P Graddick, Thomas F Walsh, Matthew M Neely, C Edward Leasure, Terrell C Drinkwater, Joseph T Geuting, M C Meigs, Francis A Callery, John Lee, Melvin J Maas, Jennings Randolph, Col Roscoe Turner, Dudley M Steele, Assen Jordanoff, Maxwell W Balfour, Robert C Oertel, Frank G Brewer, Bruce Uthus, Dr Frank W Hart, Dr A C Willard, John F Victory and William B Stout among others.

History of Rocketry and Astronautics: Proceedings of the 47th History Symposium of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) 2013, Beijing, China. American Astronautical Society (AAS) History Series Vol 45. Edited by A S Erickson. Univelt, PO Box 28130, San Diego, CA 92198, USA. 2015. 264pp. Illustrated. $75. ISBN 978-0-87703-626-5.

The history of the publication Acta Astronautica, spaceport proposals in Australia, early reaction-propelled aircraft concepts c.1670-1869 (including the designs of Charles Golightly, W H Phillips, Werner Siemens and William Quartermain among others), Israel’s Shavit satellite launch vehicle and Ofek-1 satellite, Japan’s Rockoon sounding rocket programme, the evolution of rockets, satellites and launch vehicles in China and the contributions of Heinz-Hermann Koelle, David Gordon Fearn, Vladimir Ivanovich Yazdovsky, Rudolf Hermann and Qian Xuesen are among the subjects discussed.

History of Rocketry and Astronautics: Proceedings of the 48th History Symposium of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) 2014, Toronto, Canada. American Astronautical Society (AAS) History Series Vol 46. Edited by M Freeman. Univelt, PO Box 28130, San Diego, CA 92198, USA. 2016. 348pp + DVD. Illustrated. $95. ISBN 978-0-87703-613-5.

The history of the American Astronautical Society (AAS), the evolution of the space programme in Canada and rocketry in the Ukraine and Israel, the DEFA PARCA surface-to-air missile, the Viking Mars missions, the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) programme, the infl uence of Robert H Goddard on early German missile development

and the contributions of Frederick I Ordway, Vladimir Kopal, Ivan Almar, Wernher von Braun, Kraftt Ehricke and Bruce Aikenhead are among the subjects discussed in this proceedings.

Guidance, Navigation and Control 2016: Proceedings of the 39th Annual AAS Rocky Mountain Section Guidance and Control Conference held 5-10 February 2016, Breckenridge, Colorado. Advances in the Astronautical Sciences Vol 157. Edited by D A Chart. Univelt, PO Box 28130, San Diego, CA 92198, USA. 2016. 1109pp + CD-ROM. Illustrated. $240. ISBN 978-0-87703-631-9.

‘Solar Radiation Pressure Applications on Geostationary Satellites’, ‘Low Cost Spacecraft Attitude Determination for CubeSat Type Missions’, ‘Setting the Standards for Satellite Servicing’, ‘Advanced Control Strategy for European Launchers’, ‘Achieving GNSS Compatibility and Interoperability to Support Space Users’, ‘Vision Navigation Performance for Autonomous Orbital Rendezvous and Docking’, ‘Guidance Developments of Robert Goddard and the Germans at Peenemünde’, ‘Advances in Guidance, Navigation, and Control for Planetary Entry’, ‘Descent and Landing Systems’, ‘Powered Guidance Development for Apollo and the Space Shuttle’, ‘A Short History of the Space Shuttle Orbit Flight Control System Development and Application Evolution’, ‘Guidance and Optical Navigation for Small Body Descent Trajectories’, ‘Evolution of Orion Mission Design for Exploration Mission 1 and 2’, ‘Considerations for Operation of a Deep Space Nanosatellite Propulsion System’, ‘Cassini Navigation’ and ‘Launch and Commissioning the Deep Space Climate Observatory’ are among the subjects discussed over the 81 papers included in this proceedings.

BOOKS

For further information contact the National Aerospace Library.T +44 (0)1252 701038 or 701060E [email protected]

Afterburner

Society News


RAeS 150th ANNIVERSARY www.aerosociety.com/150

SEEN FROM 2066, THE CONCEPTS DESCRIBED BY THE FINALISTS PAINTED A VIVID PICTURE OF FUTURE INNOVATIONS...

2066, the Society’s bicentennial year, touched down briefl y at No.4 Hamilton Place 50 years ahead of time on 28 November 2016. The occasion was the fi nal of the 150th anniversary celebration ‘Go for Gold Challenge’ competition attended by 11 competition fi nalists, a judging panel of senior aerospace industry professionals and an audience of over 80.

Introduced by a ‘letter from America’ penned by Amanda Wright-Lane, great grand-niece of the Wright brothers, and read by Libby Jackson of the UK Space Agency, the Go for Gold fi nal was part of a unique and exciting programme of events which began in the morning of 28 November with the 2016 sesquicentennial celebration Innovation Conference and ended in the evening with the ground-breaking 2016 Medals, Specialist and Specialist Group and Young Persons’ Awards and Written Paper Prizes presentation event.

The challenge was launched in the February 2016 issue of AEROSPACE, with cash prizes on offer in each of three age categories of under 16, 17-21 and 22-30 years. The fi nalists were down-selected by members of the Medals and Awards Committee from a strong and competitive fi eld of entries received in advance of the 16 September 2016 deadline.

The fi nal included short presentations from Hannah Nobbs, winner of the Society’s Young Persons’ Achievement Award in 2009 and from Professor Jeff Jupp, who received the Society’s Gold Medal in 2002. Otherwise the programme took the form of a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style series of presentations by the fi nalists on their entries, responding to the challenge:

‘It is 2066. You have just been voted the most innovative and signifi cant winner of the Society’s Gold Medal of the past 50 years for your outstanding contributions to the advancement of aerospace science or engineering.

Submit your innovative, original concept that will contribute to the advancement of Aerospace Aviation, Science or Engineering and demonstrate the impact it will have and how it will transform the aerospace and/or aviation sector’.

Each of the fi nalists was given only fi ve minutes to introduce themselves and to provide a very short and concise description of their entry and

its impact in front of both judges and audience. They each then faced ten minutes of questioning from members of the judging panel aimed at both clarifying their presentations and to hearing about them, their interest in aerospace, how their ideas came about, how much they had been able to think about it and what they had learned.

Seen from 2066, the concepts described by the fi nalists painted a vivid picture of future innovations in which, for instance, the ocean fl oor has been opened up for human activity by topological and geologic information painstakingly gathered by long endurance autonomous underwater gliders (AUGs) of the ‘Thermosub’ project, renewable energy sources powered aircraft using ground and space-based laser-coupled power grids, spacecraft manufactured in the low Earth orbit Robotic Additive Manufacturing Space Station for the Expansion of Science (RAMASSES), and the technology of using nano-bots programmed with an algorithm that uses the position of other nano-bots to create a shape has leading to seemingly limitless applications in support of space exploration.

Each and every presentation describing what one fi nalist referred to as this ‘new era of space exploration and aerospace technology’ was

2066 arrives early…!

Cou

rtes

y of

Seb

atia

an M

enge

r

impressively professional, creative, convincing and delivered with fl air and confi dence well beyond the years of the presenters. The judges were therefore presented with genuinely diffi cult decisions in allocated fi rst, second and third prizes in each of the age categories. Prof Ric Parker CBE FRAeS, chair of the judging panel, commenting on the fi nalists’ presentations and performance said: “If these young people are our future, the future is bright.” Other comments from the judging panel acknowledged the impressive standard of speaking and that the whole afternoon had made for both an immensely enjoyable and thought provoking experience.

The overall aim of the competition was to exploit the opportunity of the Society’s 150th anniversary celebration year to engage young people more effectively with the excitement of innovation, the opportunity in aerospace to realise their potential, and the way in which the Society’s Honours, Medals and Awards scheme celebrates both. In each of these respects the project was a great success and both thanks and congratulations are due to all those outstanding young people who, by participating – whether or not they made it to the fi nal – demonstrated so clearly the promise of the next generation of aerospace professionals and the exciting future to which we can look forward.

Go for Gold WinnersUnder 16Chun Hang Cho First prizeJoshua Perkins Second prize

17-21Jorge Van Looy and Alvaro Echavarri First prizeRicardo Ferreira da Silva Second prize Tek Kan Chung Third prize

22-30Arava Anmol Manohar and Ritvik Anand First prizeSophie Harker Second prizeSebastiaan Menger Third prize

Cou

rtes

y of

Jor

ge V

an L

ooy

Do you have an apprentice working for you? Get them signed up for FREE membership with the Royal Aeronautical Society and start enjoying the benefits of employees who are members of a professional body.

Membership BenefitsEnhanced industry knowledgeWith access to AEROSPACE magazine, Specialist Groups, conferences, lectures and the National Aerospace Library.

Network of industry expertsGlobal membership of like-minded professionals sharing knowledge and expertise.

Professional Registration Support towards gaining professional registration, an internationally recognised qualification and essential requirement for commercially aware engineers demonstrating dedication and competence. An approved level 3 qualification is the first step towards gaining Engineering Technician registration.

We can come to your company to talk about the benefits of membership and sign people up there and

then. Contact us on: +44 (0)20 670 4384 or [email protected] to arrange a visit.

Apply online now: www.aerosociety.com/create-account

Supporting our members in the advancement and professionalism of aeronautical art, science and

engineering.

Afterburner


Society News

On 2 November Gp Capt (ret) John ‘Jock’ Heron talked to the Weybridge Branch about the history of the RAF Harrier during the Cold War, a subject intimately connected with his own career. He was a Harrier Flight Commander on No IV(AC) squadron at RAF Wildenrath, the Harrier Air Staff offi cer in the MoD responsible for enhancing the operational capability of the Harrier force, commanded the operations wing at RAF Gutersloh fl ying the Harrier and was at HQ RAF Germany at Rheindahlen. In 1981 he was made an OBE for his work on the Harrier. He was also posted to the Falklands to command RAF Stanley with its Harrier Flight. On retirement he joined Rolls-Royce in Bristol as its Military Affairs Executive.

The speaker’s opening remark was that “Hawker built good aeroplanes,” then gave a brief account of the origins of the Harrier. The 1957 Defence Review stated that the RAF would become an all missile force, the Lightning being the last manned fi ghter. This resulted in the cancellation of Hawker’s P1121 Mach 2 fi ghter leaving the Kingston design offi ce with no new project. However, the French engineer Wibault had gone to Stanley Hooker, Chief Engineer at Bristol Engines, with his proposal for a VTOL aircraft powered by a Bristol Orion driving four centrifugal compressors. Hooker’s project engineer, Gordon Lewis, redesigned Wibault’s scheme utilising Orpheus and Olympus components to produce the BE48 two nozzle vectored thrust engine. At Kingston, under Hawker’s chief designer Sydney Camm, project engineer Ralph Hooper devised a VTOL confi guration round Lewis’s engine. Working with Lewis, after several iterations of engine and airframe, Hooper conceived the four-nozzle P1127 powered by the BE53, forerunner of the Pegasus, which made its fi rst, hovering, fl ight in October 1960. This, via the Kestrel service evaluation aircraft fl own by the UK, US and FRG Tripartite Evaluation Squadron which proved the concept of dispersed operations by jet V/STOL aircraft, led to the Harrier family: the GR1/3, the GR5/7/9 and the Sea Harrier FRS1/FA2, as well as the AV-8A and AV-8B for the US Marine Corps and other export variants.

The concept of operations for the Harrier were: offensive air support, close air support, air interdiction and tactical air reconnaissance. The main Harrier bases were at RAF Wittering in the UK and at Wildenrath, then Gutersloh in Germany. The main area of operations was the NATO Central region in Germany. All NATO airfi eld locations and

runway dimensions were published, so survival was a serious matter. This could be achieved by hardened aircraft shelters on airfi elds or by dispersing off-base and hiding in natural or man-made cover. A typical NATO airfi eld of the 1970s had dispersed and hardened aircraft shelters, hardened operational facilities and rapid runway repair capability able to deal with two 1,000lb bomb craters per hour. For operations on the fl anks of NATO, No 1(F), the Wittering based squadron would have been deployed to one of nine pre-surveyed bases ranging from Norway to Turkey via Denmark and Germany.

At Gutersloh, an ex-Luftwaffe WW2 airfi eld, it was calculated that, after a Soviet Fencer attack, there should have been suffi cient space for a Harrier to take-off. They were kept in hardened shelters, up to three at a time. However, the preferred operational option was Operation Warloc, off-base deployment. Guttersloh earmarked six off-base rural sites for the No 3 and IV squadrons utilising roads, car parks and man-made cover. The sites had to be accessible by road for logistic support and have taxiways from the STOL strip to the adjacent camoufl aged hides. Potential war sites were surveyed clandestinely by offi cers, including the speaker, in civilian clothes using private cars, pacing out the dimensions of candidate roads and taxiways, checking for unacceptable permanent obstructions on the fl ight paths and taxiways and looking for suitable cover for the parked aircraft. They worked closely with the army Royal

WEYBRIDGE BRANCH

The RAF Harrier in the Cold War

Above: A Spanish AV-8S Matador in fl ight over the Spanish aircraft carrier Dedalo (R01). US Navy.

A TYPICAL NATO AIRFIELD OF THE 1970s HAD DISPERSED AND HARDENED AIRCRAFT SHELTERS, HARDENED OPERATIONAL FACILITIES AND RAPID RUNWAY REPAIR CAPABILITY...

FEBRUARY 2017 49fiFind us on Twitter Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

Engineers and Royal Signals personnel. Training on the base was essential, so a 1,500ft by 35ft ‘road’ was laid at Gutersloh to simulate war site dimensions. For routine training, off-base rural sites with camoufl aged woodland hides were used for deployments. RAF recce squadrons found the sites diffi cult to fi nd and Harrier pilots making their fi rst visits sometimes had diffi culty in spotting their landing area. Occasionally (closed) public roads and disused farm buildings would be used.

Navigation was by the traditional map and stopwatch backed up by the analogue Ferranti FE541 INAS (Inertial Navigation and Attack System) with its moving map display. The latter was satisfactory for general use but not precise enough to pin point the sites.

The primary Harrier weapons load was fi ve Hunting BL755 cluster weapons and two 30mm Aden guns. The highly effective BL755 contained 49 sacks of three shaped charge bomblets, each capable of penetrating 12 inches of Soviet armour. The body broke up into 900 pieces of shrapnel effective against soft-skinned vehicles and personnel. The BL755 was dropped in straight and level fl ight at 200ft, not a comfortable situation for the pilot. Subsequently, cluster weapons were deemed to be illegal because of the hazards from unexploded ordnance. The alternative load was the SNEB rocket where the GR3 could carry up to four pods, each carrying 18 armour-piercing 68mm rocket projectiles. These were effective weapons but gave nowhere near the area coverage of the fi ve BL755s. For reconnaissance, the permanent nose-mounted F95 camera was augmented with a pod containing fi ve cameras, giving horizon-to-horizon coverage, and a data conversion unit which added inertial navigator position data to the photographs.

The site-deployed logistics included bulk fuel supplies in large pillow tanks piped directly to each hide, cruciform NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) protected Marshall cabins for command, logistics control, intelligence and tasking personnel using secure speech facilities, and the ubiquitous

12ft by 12ft tents for living accommodation. All were hidden and camoufl aged for protection from the ever-present threat of reconnaissance aircraft. A Harrier could be turned round with fuel and weapons in 15 minutes and, under these conditions, the Harrier was in its element, fl ying six to seven sorties per aircraft per day with very high serviceability rates.

The fi rst operational overseas Harrier deployment was to Belize (ex-British Honduras) in central America which was being threatened by neighbouring Guatemala. Six Harriers were fl own out using in-fl ight refuelling and served there from 1974 to 1994, being the only RAF combat aircraft capable of fl ying from the short runway.

Between 1975 and 1978, as the MoD Harrier Air Staff Offi cer, Jock’s job was to sustain the Harrier force, promote the concept of operations and to improve the Harrier’s capability. Enhancement options included increased range and payload, manoeuvrability to Hunter standards, more thrust and digital avionics. John Fozard of Hawker, now part of British Aerospace, agreed to examine Jock’s proposal to replace the existing wing with a new larger wing, which could be retrofi tted to the existing fl eet, holding more fuel and with three weapon pylons per side. Carrying six BL755s this would have given the same radius of action as a GR3 with three BL755s and drop tanks. However, a similar new variant was being developed with McDonnell Douglas (Hawker’s Harrier licensee) for the US Marine Corps with a large carbon fi bre wing. With a much bigger buy and proven digital avionics it was decided that, although defi cient in manoeuvrability and top speed, the RAF would have an Anglicised version of this AV-8B, with BAe having a workshare of some 50% of all aircraft built. This was the GR5 which by modifi cation was progressively signifi cantly enhanced to the GR5, GR7 and GR9 standards. Mistakenly, Prime Minister Cameron’s 2010 Defence Review withdrew the RAF’s highly capable and fl exible GR9s and the Navy’s carriers from service in favour of the Tornado force.

Jock also spoke about the Falklands Task force which would not have been possible without the Sea Harriers, two RN carriers and a contingent of RAF Harriers. After the war the Navy went home but an RAF Harrier detachment which became 1453 Flight stayed for three years until the new airfi eld at Mount Pleasant was built. Coincidentally, Jock commanded RAF Stanley in 1984.

The meeting closed with a question and answer session and a vote of thanks for an outstandingly detailed and interesting talk covering many little-known aspects of RAF Harrier operations.

Chris FararaWeybridge Branch

Below: A No 1453 Flight Harrier GR3 at Stanley Airport in 1984. Pete Butt.

50

Corporate Partners


Afterburner

NEW PARTNERS

THE AIM OF THE CORPORATE PARTNER SCHEME IS TO BRING TOGETHER ORGANISATIONS TO PROMOTE BEST PRACTICE WITHIN THE INTERNATIONAL AEROSPACE SECTOR

The Royal Aeronautical Society would like to welcome the following Corporate Partners.

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA7 Macquarie Place, Sydney, NSW 2000, AustraliaT +61 (02) 8093 7000W www.virginaustralia.comContact Danielle Keighery

Virgin Australia launched in 2000 and has since established itself as a contemporary, full-service airline with a reputation for exceptional customer service. The airline is committed to delivering the world’s most engaging, stylish and effortless fl ying experience. In doing so, Virgin Australia has partnered with some of the world’s best airlines, Air New Zealand, Delta Air Lines, Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines, opening up a combined network of more than 450 destinations.

Virgin Australia has developed an extensive fl ight network across Australia and the world and also provides charter and cargo services. It operates a modern fl eet of around 130 aircraft that includes Airbus A330, Airbus A320, Boeing 777, Boeing 737, Embraer 190, ATR-72 turboprop and Fokker 100.

Virgin Australia’s award-winning loyalty program, Velocity Frequent Flyer, offers its more than 6.5 million members with a range of genuine and unique benefi ts. In 2016, Velocity was awarded Program of the Year in the Middle East & Asia/Oceania category for the fourth consecutive year at the industry-coveted Freddie Awards.

AMDAPO Box 4095, Geelong, VIC 3220, AustraliaT +61 (03) 5282 0500W www.amda.com.auContact Greg Ferguson

Aerospace Maritime and Defence Foundation of Australia Ltd is a not-for-profi t corporation limited by guarantee and established to promote the development of aviation and Australian industrial, manufacturing and information/communications technology resources in the fi elds of aviation, aerospace, maritime and defence. To focus on each of these sectors, the Foundation has established three specialist not-for-profi t operational subsidiaries – Aerospace Australia Ltd, Maritime Australia Ltd and Aviation Development Australia Ltd. The mission is to promote the development of Australian industrial, manufacturing and information/communications technology resources through expositions, conferences and events.

AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA25 Constitution Avenue, Canberra, ACT 2600, AustraliaT +61 (02) 6268 4111W www.airservicesaustralia.comContact Sarah Fulton

Airservices is a government-owned organisation providing safe, secure, effi cient and environmentally responsible services to the aviation industry. Each year, Airservices safely manages 11% of the world’s airspace where there are more than four million aircraft movements carrying more than 150 million passengers annually in the Australian fl ight information region. Airservices provides the aviation industry with telecommunications, aeronautical data, navigation services and aviation rescue fi re-fi ghting services. Airservices has approximately 1,000 air traffi c controllers working from two major centres in Melbourne and Brisbane, four terminal control units and 29 towers at international and regional airports.

QINETIQ AUSTRALIA80 Northbourne Avenue, Braddon, ACT 2612, AustraliaT +61 (02) 6200 2600 W www.qinetiq.com.auContact Jenny Waller

QinetiQ Australia is a people-based business that provides advice and services across the aerospace, land and maritime domains of the defence market and to Government, training and industry sectors. Because QinetiQ Australia does not make or manufacture products, it is independent of the defence supply chain and the large product-focused original equipment manufacturers. This impartiality, combined with technical know-how, means the company is uniquely placed to understand its customers’ issues and work with them to ensure their ongoing success. QinetiQ Australia’s team is augmented and enhanced by global expertise from the UK, US and other international businesses, including OptaSense, Boldon James and Commerce Decisions.

FEBRUARY 2017 51i fFind us on Twitter Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

EVENTSPlease note: attendance at Corporate Partner Briefi ngs is strictly exclusive to staff of RAeS Corporate Partners. Both individual and corporate members are welcome at the Annual Banquet.

Wednesday 8 February 2017 / LondonDelivering ISR Capabilities and Services Worldwide Corporate Partner Briefi ng by Matt Avison, ISR Sales Director, Thales UKSponsor:

Wednesday 22 March 2017 / LondonCorporate Partner Briefi ngColin Smith CBE HonFRAeS, Chair, Aerospace Growth Partnership (AGP)Sponsor:

Thursday 11 May 2017 / LondonAnnual BanquetCorporate tables and individual tickets availableLead sponsor:

Tuesday 6 June 2017 / LondonCorporate Partner Parliamentary ReceptionHouse of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A at 18.30 hrs

www.aerosociety.com/eventsFor further information, please contact Gail WardE [email protected] or T +44 (0)1491 629912

AIRBUS GROUP AUSTRALIA PACIFIC1 Macquarie Place, Sydney, NSW 2000, AustraliaW www.airbusgroupap.com.auContact Nathan Pick

With more than 1,700 staff at 19 sites across Australia and New Zealand, Airbus Group Australia Pacifi c has access to the fi nancial strength and expertise of Airbus Helicopters and the Airbus Group. The company is assembling and delivering 47 MRH90 multi-role helicopters for the Australian Army and Navy and supporting 22 Tiger ARH armed reconnaissance helicopters for the Army.

Airbus Group Australia Pacifi c delivers new Airbus Helicopters machines and supports more than 500 aircraft through a network of local facilities.

In addition to its helicopter capabilities, Airbus Group Australia Pacifi c maintains the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) AP-3C Orion reconnaissance aircraft and C-130J Hercules transports. Through the work of subsidiary Safe Air, the Group supports the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s C-130s and P-3s while being recognised as a leader in propeller and engine maintenance.

PAKISTAN AERONAUTICAL COMPLEXPAC Kamra, District Attock, 43570, PakistanT +92 5190 990E [email protected] www.pac.org.pkContact Group Captain Kamran Ahmad

Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Lamra (PAF Kamra) is situated 70km from Islamabad, the nation’s capital. The complex houses four factories and is spread over 10 square kilometres. It employs over 10,000.

PAC Kamra offers MRO services for the entire aircraft fl eet of PAF and its associated equipment. It also offers some specifi c and general engineering services to other Armed Forces of Pakistan as well as other customers, as and when required.

PAC manufactures Mushshak and Super Mushshak aircraft for primary fl ight training and is also engaged in co-operation of JF-17 fi ghter aircraft, along with PRC.

Contact:Simon LevyHead of Business DevelopmentE [email protected] +44 (0)20 7670 4346

PAKISTAN AIR FORCEAir Headquarters, Sector E-9, Islamabad, PakistanT +92 51 950 6701E [email protected] www.paf.gov.pkContact Air Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, DCAS (Support)

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is a highly effi cient air force dedicated to defend the aerial frontiers of the country. It is recognised globally for its professionalism and safety standards.

It has been involved in two major wars, in 1965 and 1971. On both occasions it achieved outstanding operational results. In the recent past it has been brought the insurgency under control, in conjunction with the land forces.

As an operator of a small fl eet, PAF struggles to balance its limited resources with the ever increasing demands placed on it. PAF has met this challenge by focusing on the core task of producing battle-winning people who lie at the heart of this capability.

p

Afterburner


DiaryEVENTS

7 FebruaryRPAS Operations in the Coastal and Maritime EnvironmentUAS Group Conference

9 FebruaryFlight Testing the AW159 Wildcat Helicopter at SeaMark Burnand, Deputy Chief Test Pilot, Leonardo Helicopters UKFlight Test Group Lecture

15 FebruaryAeroChallenge 2017Young Persons’ Committee aeronautical quiz

16 FebruaryUAVs for Humanitarian AidDaniel Ronen, Co-Founder, UAVAidUAS Group/IMechE Lecture

27 February40 years on from the fi rst Kremer Prize John EdgleyHuman Powered Flight Group Lecture

5 AprilNew Materials, Structures and Manufacturing Methods for Aerospace UseStructures and Materials Group ConferenceSheffi eld Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre

24-25 AprilThe Architecture of Air Travel – Designing for Human BehaviourAir Transport Group Conference

9 MayStaying Alert: Managing Fatigue in MaintenanceHuman Factors Group ConferenceCranfi eld University

11 MayRAeS AGM and Annual Banquet

13-14 JuneBenchmarking for Improving Flight SimulationFlight Simulation Group Conference

5 JulyAerospace Golf DayFrilford Heath, Oxfordshire

5-6 JulySafe Operations in a Complex Onshore Environment: Technology Friend or FoeRotorcraft Group Conference

All lectures start at 18.00hrs unless otherwise stated. Conference proceedings are available at www.aerosociety.com/news/proceedings

www.aerosociety/events www.aerosociety/events

52

16 FebruaryHumanitarian Aerospace – A New Civil-Military InterfaceConference

US

AF/

Tech

Sgt

Sam

uel M

orse

.

LECTURESClive Smith.21 March — The Joe Morrall Award Lectures. Young Persons’ competition.11 April — Engineering the A380. John Roberts.

CAMBRIDGELecture Theatre ‘0’, Cambridge University Engineering Department, Trumpington Street, Cambridge. 7.30pm. Jin-Hyun Yu, T +44 (0)1223 373129.2 February — Sir Arthur Marshall Lecture. The fl ying exploits of Sir Arthur Marshall. Terry Holloway. Churchill College, Wolfson Hall, Storey’s Way, Cambridge.7 March — Sir Michael Marshall Young Persons Lecture Competition. Cambridge University Engineering Department, Baker Building Board Room. 4pm. (contact: [email protected]).9 March — Gliding – soaring with condors in the High Andes. AM Philip Sturley, Cambridge Branch President. 6pm. Followed by Branch 60th Anniversary Dinner. Royal Cambridge Hotel, Trumpington Road, Cambridge. 8pm (booking required).6 April — Branch AGM (7.15pm) followed by Safety priorities in helicopter fl ight test and operation. Andrew Warner, Airbus Helicopters.

CANBERRA14 February — Site visit to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau at 62 Northbourne Avenue and discussion of the search for MH370.9 March — Eminent Speaker Lecture. Dr Sivaguru S Sritharan, Provost and Vice Chancellor, USAF Institute of Technology.27 March — Lecture and dinner. Barnes Wallis

BEDFORDARA Social Club, Manton Lane, Bedford. 7pm. Marylyn Wood, T +44 (0)1933 353517.8 February — Lockheed Martin Ampthill: Space Rider. Alex Godfrey, Lockheed Martin UK.8 March — Sir John Charnley Lecture. E-fan – the new way to fl y. Nicholas Fouquet, Airbus Group Innovations.12 April — Branch AGM followed by Turbine blade technology evolution in gas turbines. Stefan Wagner, Rolls-Royce.

BIRMINGHAM, WOLVERHAMPTON AND COSFORDNational Cold War Museum, RAF Museum Cosford, Shifnal, Shropshire. 7pm. Chris Hughes, T +44 (0)1902 844523.16 February — Flight testing the Bristol 188 stainless steel research aircraft. John Thorpe.16 March — J D North Lecture. Lightning II (F-35). Rear-Admiral Rick Thompson. Moog Aircraft Group, Valiant Way, (i54) Wolverhampton.20 April — The James Webb Space Telescope – following Hubble in 2018. John Thatcher.

BOSCOMBE DOWNLecture Theatre, MoD Boscombe Down. Refreshments from 5pm. Lecture 5.15pm. Visitors please register at least four days in advance (name and car registration required) E [email protected] February — The Queen Elizabeth carriers: the future fl agships of the UK. Chris Coles.21 February — Current fl ight test activities at 41 Squadron.7 March — Lancaster bail out!

Foundation. Peter Rix. Kangara Waters Retirement Village. 6.30pm.

CARDIFF7pm. E [email protected] February — Engine power – where will it come from in the future? Conrad Banks. Swansea University.15 March — Mission Aviation Fellowship. Capt Bryan Pill.26 April — Delivering the NATO conference. Gary Smart.

CHESTERRoom 011 Binks Building, University of Chester, Parkgate Road, Chester. 7.30pm. Keith Housely, T +44 (0)151 348 4480.8 February — Recent developments in Martin-Baker ejection seats. Philip Rowles, Chief Engineer, Martin-Baker Aircraft.8 March — The activities of Airbus Group Innovations in an increasingly digital world. Ian Risk, Head of Airbus Group Innovations UK.

CHRISTCHURCHCobham Lecture Theatre, Bournemouth University. 7.30pm. Roger Starling, E [email protected] February — The role of a Rolls-Royce test pilot. Phill O’Dell, Chief Test Pilot, Rolls-Royce.23 March — The V-Bomber force and the Cold War. David Head.

COVENTRYLecture Theatre ECG26, Engineering & Computing Building, Coventry University, Coventry. 7.30pm. Janet Owen, T +44 (0)2476 464079.16 February — Meggitt Lecture and Dinner. Holiday Inn Coventry South, London

The fi rst Bristol 188 high-speed research aircraft, XF923. John Thorpe will discuss the Bristol 188 at Cosford on 16 February and Medway on 15 March. RAeS (NAL).

53FEBRUARY 2017i fFind us on Twitter Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

The port two Europrop TP400s of an Airbus A400M. Stuart Ellis and Jerry Goodwin will discuss the TP400 at Derby on 22 March. Ronnie Macdonald.

Road, Ryton on Dunsmore.15 March — Lanchester Lecture. The Lanchester interactive project.19 April — Branch AGM followed by Mini lectures.

CRANFIELDVincent Auditorium, Vincent Building 52a, Cranfi eld University. 6pm.9 February — ExoMars Rover: Engineering for the Red Planet. Abbie Hutty, Senior Spacecraft Structures Engineer, Airbus Defence and Space.

DERBYNightingale Hall, Moor Lane, Derby. 5.30pm. Chris Sheaf, T +44 (0)1332 269368.February — The development and potential of the Skylon spaceplane and its Sabre engines. Mark Thomas, CEO, Reaction Engines.22 March — The TP400. Stuart Ellis and Jerry Goodwin, Chief Design Engineer and Chief Engineer, Rolls-Royce TP400.19 April — Buying British – the politics of the VC10 and Trident programmes. Prof Keith Hayward.

FARNBOROUGHBAE Systems Park Centre, Farnborough Aerospace Centre. 7.30pm. Dr Mike Philpot, T +44 (0)1252 614618.14 February — Templer Lecture. Drone technology: the next revolution in civil aviation? Lambert Dopping-Hepenstal, formerly ASTRAEA Programme Director, BAE Systems. 7pm.14 March — The Rolls-Royce 7000 Trent engine for the Airbus A330neo. Jon Windlass, Chief Engineer Trent 7000, Rolls-Royce. Joint lecture with IMechE and IET.11 April — The BAe146 Water Bomber. Dr Michael West, BAE Systems, Regional Aircraft.

GATWICKCAA, Aviation House, Gatwick Airport South. 6.30pm. Don Bates, T +44 (0)20 8654 1150.8 February — The development of sailplane design and performance to the present day and beyond. Afandi Darlington and Howard Torode, British Gliding Association.

GLOUCESTER AND CHELTENHAMSafran Landing Systems, Restaurant Conference Room, off Down Hatherley Lane. 7.30pm. Peter Smith, T +44 (0)1452 857205.

21 February — A pilot’s life in the bush. Capt Bryan Pill, Mission Aviation Fellowship.21 March — Rise of the Drones. Dr Tom Scott, Executive Co-Director of Bristol-Oxford Nuclear Research Centre. Joint lecture with the IMechE. EDF Energy Lecture Theatre, Barnett Way, Barnwood, Gloucester.20 April — The Gloster E28/39. Chris Radford, Jet Age Museum.

HAMBURGHochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften (HAW), Hörsaal 01.12, Berliner Tor 5 (Neubau), 20099 Hamburg. 6pm. Richard Sanderson, T +49 (0)4167 92012.16 March — Remembering the TSR2. Brian Mann.6 April — Perspektiven der Luftfahrtforschung. Joint lecture with DGLR, VDI and HAW. ZAL TechCenter, Hein-Sass-Weg 22, 21129, Hamburg.

HATFIELDLindop Building, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfi eld. 7pm. Contact Maurice James, T +44 (0)7958 775 441.15 February — Man-made global warming – the evidence. Dr Neil Harris.

HEATHROWCommunity Learning Centre, British Airways Waterside, Harmondsworth. 6.15pm. For security passes please contact Dr Ana Pedraz, E [email protected] or T +44 (0)7936 392799.

9 February — Airspace sovereignty. Prof Keith Hayward.9 March — Sir Richard Fairey Lecture. Advances in airport technology. Pierre Carpentier, Product Line Manager, Thales Avionics.13 April — Test fl ying the BAC 1-11. John Thorpe, Aviation Historian.

LOUGHBOROUGHRoom U020, Brockington Building, Loughborough University. 7.30pm. Colin Moss, T +44 (0)1509 239962.7 February — The challenges of maintaining Highlands and Islands Airport Services (HIAL). Andrew Rackham. Joint lecture with Loughborough University Velocity Society.21 February — 3D printing and digital technology. Kevin Smith, Global Applications Director, Voxeljet and Steve Ashworth, Technical Director, Aeromet International PLC. Joint lecture with IMechE.14 March — Elfyn Richards Lecture. Trent XWB Airbus A350 (84K). Mark Wainwright, Chief Engineer, Trent XWB-84, Rolls-Royce.4 April — Austers I have known and fl own – the history of Auster Aircraft. Terry Dann.

MANCHESTER7pm. Bryan Cowin, T +44 (0)161 799 8979.15 February — The day the skies went black. Peter Hampson, Airport Solutions. Room B2 Newton Building, Salford University.15 March — Roy Chadwick

Lecture. Nimrod, (The Mighty Hunter). Dr Thurai Rahulan, University of Salford. Deanwater Hotel, Wilmslow Road, Woodford.12 April — Branch AGM followed by Mini Lecture Competition. Room E5, James Lighthill Building, Manchester University.

MEDWAYStaff Restaurant, BAE Systems, Marconi Way, Rochester. 7pm. Robin Heaps, T +44 (0)1634 377973.15 March — Flight testing the Bristol 188 stainless steel research aircraft. John Thorpe.

OXFORDMagdalen Centre, Oxford Science Park, Oxford. 7pm. Nigel Randall, E [email protected] March — Fast helicopters. Dr Gary Clark, Head, Civil Business, Airbus Helicopters UK.28 April — Sadler Lecture and Dinner. Mark Davies, James Sadler Biographer and Local Historian. Sadler Building, The Oxford Science Park, Oxford.

PRESTONPersonnel and Conference Centre, BAE Systems, Warton. 7.30pm. Alan Matthews, T +44 (0)1995 61470.8 February — Branch AGM followed by Nimrod operations. Richie Fennel, BAE Systems.8 March — Sir Freddie Page Lecture. VSTOL and LO – a case study. Mick Mansell, ex- Future Studies Director, British

Aerospace. Canberra Club, Samlesbury Aerodrome.12 April — Red Arrows. Alan Chubb, ex-Red Arrows pilot.

PRESTWICKThe Aviator Suite, 1st Floor, Terminal Building, Prestwick Airport. 7.30pm. John Wragg, T +44 (0)1655 750270.13 February — Boeing E-3 AWACS.13 March — David Fowler McIntyre Lecture. Supply chain issues with ever-increasing production rates. Tom Williams.10 April — Aeropair – aircraft interiors. Stephen Findlay.

SEATTLEMuseum of Flight, 9404 East Marginal Way South, Seattle, Washington. 6pm.21 February — Improved aerodynamics of the Callaway XR-16 Driver. Dr Jeffery Crouch, Senior Technical Fellow for Flight Sciences, The Boeing Company.

SOLENTMurray Lecture Theatre, University of Southampton. 7pm. Chris Taylor, T +44 (0)1489 445627.6 February — Formula 1 aerodynamics: modelling for performance. Dr Stephen Liddle, Principal Aerodynamicist, Renault F1.21 February — R J Mitchell Lecture. Rosetta and beyond: ESA’s interplanetary missions operations. Dr Paolo Ferri, Head of Operations, European Space Operations Centre. Turner Sims Concert Hall, University of Southampton. Ticketed event – please book via E [email protected]

SOUTHENDThe Royal Naval Association, 79 East Street, Southend-on-Sea. 8pm. Sean Corr, T +44 (0)20 7929 3400.14 February — The BAe146/RJ – Britain’s last airliner. Stephen Skinner, aviation author and historian.14 March — Aircraft and aircraft propulsion evolution. Rob Duivis, GE90 Programme Manager, KLM Engineering and Maintenance. Joint lecture with IMechE. The Forum, Elmer Square, Southend-on-Sea.11 April — Branch AGM.

SWINDONThe Montgomery Theatre, The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Joint Services Command Staff College, Shrivenham. 7.30pm. New attendees must provide details of the vehicle they will be using not later than fi ve days before the event. Photo ID will be required at the gate (Driving

Diary


Afterburner

Licence/Passport). Advise attendance preferably via email to [email protected] or Branch Secretary Colin Irvin, T +44 (0)7740 136609.1 February — Reminiscence of a Concorde test pilot. Alan Smith.1 March — The Red Arrows. Wing Commander Martin Higgins, Offi cer Commanding Red Arrows.5 April — Sir George Greenhill Lecture. Boeing P-8 Poseidon. Gp Capt Simon Joy, Programme Development Manager.

TOULOUSESymposium Room, B01, Airbus HQ/SAS, 1 rond point Maurice Bellonte, 31707 Blagnac. 6pm. Contact: [email protected] for a security pass.14 February — Rolls-Royce

Mini-Lecture Competition followed by Aero-engines at Rolls-Royce: a proud history and exciting future. Prof Ric Parker.14 March — Progress of Reaction Engines towards space and hypersonic fl ight. Mark Thomas, CEO and MD Reaction Engines.11 April — ALM/additive layer manufacturing (3D printing). Jérôme Rascol, Head of ALM Platform, Airbus.

WEYBRIDGEBrooklands Museum, Weybridge. 6.45pm. Ken Davies, T +44 (0)1483 531529.1 February — Manoeuvrable spacecraft. John Gough, former aerodynamicist, Hawker Siddeley Kingston.22 February — The history

and development of sailplanes. Afandi Darlington, AAIB, and Howard Torode, British Gliding Association.15 March — Aero engine technology – a glimpse into the future. Phil Curnock, Chief Engineer, Civil Large Engines, Rolls-Royce.19 April — Branch AGM.

YEOVILDallas Conference Room 1A, Leonardo Helicopters, Yeovil. 6pm. David Mccallum, E [email protected] February — The Reggie Brie Awards. Young members’ lecture competition.16 March — Robotic cars. Tony Pipe.27 April — 62nd Henson and Stringfellow Dinner and Lecture.

2017Honours, Medals & Awards

The Society’s Honours, Medals and Awards are open to everyone in and supporting the global aerospace community – from senior professionals to students and graduates.

Do you know an individual or team that has made an outstanding contribution to aerospace and merit recognition? Nominate them today. The nomination form can be found on our website www.aerosociety.com/medalsandawards. The closing date for the 2017 round is 31 March 2017.

For further information call Scott Phillips on +44 (0)20 7670 4303 or email [email protected]

The most prestigious and long-standing awards in global aerospace honouring achievements, innovation and excellence.

Dr Stephen Liddle, Principal Aerodynamicist at Renault Sport Racing, will discuss Formula 1 aerodynamics at the Solent Branch on 6 February. Renault Sport Racing.

55FEBRUARY 2017

Society News


In August 2016, it was decided that enough had been done to allow the system to be released for some initial exposure. The original intention was to start with a single school or cluster but this proved impractical so, since August, the Prestwick Branch has had the ability to make aeronautically themed STEM material available to every teacher in South Ayrshire. This represents a current audience of 41 primary schools and eight secondary schools.

In September, the Prestwick Branch delivered its fi rst CPD session to 15 teachers in South Ayrshire representing a similar number of schools. As well as showing them Prest-Aero, the teachers experienced building fl yable model aeroplanes and carrying out some basic pilot navigation. Feedback from the event was very positive – see right. It is expected that more events will be arranged.

The author is not a resident of South Ayrshire and would like to see the system made more generally available. Within a year, it is hoped to extend coverage to every teacher in Scotland, increasing the potential audience to over 2,000 primary schools and more than 350 secondary schools.

Nothing in the above is intended to reduce the Prestwick Branch’s engagement with schools. On the contrary, it is hoped that teachers feel empowered to get in touch and make requests for additional material or assistance when needed. The site includes a Branch contact email address.

It is very early days, but the signs are that Prest-Aero may prove to be quite a signifi cant initiative – and Peter’s money has still to be spent!

For more about GLOW, check out: https://connect.glowscotland.org.uk/

David Lacey CEng MRAeSPrestwick Branch

‘Prest-Aero’ – a different approach to aeronautical STEM

PRESTWICK BRANCH

The Prestwick Branch made its fi rst tentative foray into taking aeronautical STEM education into schools with its Cool Aeronautics event which took place as a contribution to the Prestwick World Festival of Flight on 3 September 2013. That event was attended by fi ve primary schools from the Ayr and Prestwick area and the resulting local press coverage provoked interest from others.

The Branch subsequently provided one-off events for individual local primary schools but in early 2015 embarked upon its most ambitious STEM education exercise yet when four aeronautically themed days were staged for the P6 pupils of Holmston Primary in Ayr. The days were spaced one month apart and took place at Ayrshire College – the school being chosen for its proximity to the College. The themes were:How Aircraft Fly,Power for Flight,Operation of Aircraft andCareers in Aviation.

The Branch members running the days produced their own material and the staff and resources of the College were also utilised to good effect.

Participating staff felt that, although the sessions had been enjoyable and worthwhile, it would be impossible to sustain this model of delivery. Another way of providing as many schools as possible with access to the PowerPoint presentations, demonstrations and exercises produced by the Branch would need to be found.

The Branch began to think about developing a website to host its material – Prest-Aero. About this time, Branch Past President Peter Berry passed away and left a bequest to the Branch. It was agreed that the money would be used to implement such a site. Prest-Aero was proposed as a candidate project to mark the Society’s 150th anniversary.

Initial dealings with South Ayrshire Council identifi ed that a much more pragmatic approach was readily available, avoiding the need to implement a website and using what was already in existence, namely Scottish Education’s enterprise architecture, GLOW (see below). A start was made on implementing a system. The author was granted administration rights for a small area (Prest-Aero) and the Branch began converting its material into a form that would be suitable for teacher delivery. This included generating ‘Teacher Guidance’ documents, annotating PowerPoints and some fi le conversions. As this is written, the work to convert the 2015 material is about 50% complete.

Interesting and challenging practical activities, with rewarding outcomes.

I feel confi dent that the Prest-Aero resources will challenge our children to develop their engineering skills. I also feel it will encourage children to consider a career in engineering.Some teacher feedback from the September 2016 CPD event

56

Elections


SOCIETY OFFICERSPresident: Prof Chris AtkinPresident-Elect: ACM Sir Stephen Dalton

BOARD CHAIRMEN

Learned Society Chairman: Ian MiddletonMembership Services Chairman:

Dr Alisdair WoodProfessional Standards Chairman:

Prof Jonathan Cooper

DIVISION PRESIDENTS

Australia: John VincentNew Zealand: John MaciIreePakistan: AM Salim ArshadSouth African: Dr Glen Snedden

Afterburner

Andrew BauerChristopher ShortDonald RockwellFayette CollierGregory MatthewsNicholas ShaveRichard TobianoSimon HendersonStuart AggsVarnavas Serghides

Georgios Koutsothanasis

James BirdJonathan HandPhil CalderSimon DeeksStuart Hawkins

Adetayo OtubusinFelix GenatioScott Donovan

FELLOWS

Aisling O’BrienAnisha PatelBarnaby GreenCalum ScullionCerys EvansClive Elden MoverleyEllen MaddenEvan PriceHumza SohailIrfan KhanJacob LeightonJames LyallJordan HunterJoshua MittonKamran AliLiam HallLilly PipeLouis RaettigMatthew ThomasMayooran RajkumarOwen ConnonRoopesh ChavdaSam BaldockSam CrabbeSean O’SullivanTama LangfordThomas StrangeZuber Khan

Alvin WongAndil AboubakariBonnie PosseltEthan WesleyIrina CojocaruJames PerrettLeonardo Mestre

GalofreOliver MarksSasiru MadurawalaThomas Bembridge

Andrew EsserCharles LamdinGordon BriggsPeter Dacey

Luke Masini

ASSOCIATES

MEMBERS

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

WITH REGRET

John Agustus Bezzant IEng AMRAeS 93

Ernest Martin Eltis FREng FRAeS 95

Brian Dennis Keep OBE CEng FRAeS 86

James Arthur Redman CEng MRAeS 69

Dr Piers John Sellers OBE FRAeS 61

Michael A Stacey FRAeS 77

John Hewlett Brabazon Urmston AMRAeS 92

The RAeS announces with regret the deaths of the following members:

STEVENAGE BRANCH LESLIE BEDFORD LECTURE

E-ASSOCIATES

AFFILIATES

STUDENT AFFILIATES

Vice Admiral Ben Key CBE, Fleet Commander, presented the 2016 Leslie Bedford Lecture hosted by the Stevenage Branch of the RAeS at MBDA’s site in Stevenage.

The Vice Admiral presented an excellent lecture on the theme of ‘F-35 and the Queen Elizabeth – A Game Changer’ in which he explained the capabilities of the new carrier and afterwards fully engaged the audience in an honest and open question and answer session, which was appreciated by all.

The Stevenage Branch were pleased to welcome back RAeS President-Elect Sir Stephen Dalton who presented the Leslie Bedford Lecture in 2012.

From left: John Sedgley, Stevenage Branch Chairman; Sir Stephen Dalton GCB ADC, RAeS President-Elect; bust of Leslie Bedford; Dave Armstrong MBE, Stevenage Branch President and Vice Admiral Ben Key CBE, Royal Navy Fleet Commander.

57FEBRUARY 2017i fFind us on Twitter Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

On 30 November, over 60 early-career aerospace professionals gathered at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester for the Annual Young Persons Forum; the fi rst one to be held outside of London. Representatives from our lead sponsor Innovate UK, along with sponsors BAE Systems and University of Manchester’s Aerospace Research Institute (UMARI), provided inspirational and interesting speakers. Each gave a different perspective on the impact of Brexit on young people in the aerospace industry, and highlighted the plethora of opportunities available in the aerospace industry.

Director of UMARI, Professor Constantinos Soutis CEng FREng FRAeS, showcased numerous opportunities for advanced research and studies, particularly in the North West.

Innovate UK is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Simon Masters, Lead Technologist for their aerospace division, presented opportunities for those among us who are keen to develop research ideas further into their own business and can perhaps use a governmental body like Innovate UK to sponsor their research, as well as to establish and secure collaborative projects with industry, at both national and international level.

Paul Needham, F-35 Engineering Manager at BAE Systems Military Air and Information, spoke about how industry has always been able to adapt to changing political environments and about other multinational collaborations outside of the EU, using the F-35 programme as a prime example of a large scale multinational project in industry. He also highlighted the importance of academia-industry collaborations – something which must remain a signifi cant contribution to the industry if the UK is going to continue to be at the forefront of technology.

A visit to the Museum’s Air and Space hall broke up the day and gave delegates an opportunity to network, while enjoying the exhibits on display.

The second part of the day gave our young members an opportunity to have their say about the Society, the Young Persons’ Network (YPN), and how to use the Society and YPN to advance their careers. There were discussions around what the Society currently offer and what the Society could offer to attract more young members; how the YPN engage with young members through social media; what we could do to improve engagement; and an overview of the professional registration process. There were many great ideas which came from the

discussions which the Young Persons’ Committee will take back and incorporate into their strategy.

The day was a great success, with a mixture of delegates ranging from college students to those who are working in the industry, all coming together to discuss the future of the industry. It was a fantastic event, and the perfect way to round off the Young Members Calendar for 2016.

The Young Persons committee would like to thank the delegates for their enthusiasm throughout the day, the speakers for their thought-provoking talks and special thanks to our sponsors BAE Systems and UMARI and our lead sponsor Innovate UK.

Laura HoangYPC Vice Chair

YOUNG PERSONS FORUM

Young members gather in Manchester

Avro 707A, WZ736, delta research aircraft displayed alongside Avro Shackleton AEW2, WR960, Dougal, in the Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester. RuthAS.

THE DAY WAS A GREAT SUCCESS, WITH A MIXTURE OF DELEGATES RANGING FROM COLLEGE STUDENTS TO THOSE WHO ARE WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY, ALL COMING TOGETHER TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY

or scientifi c understanding from elected offi cials. Although President Trump has shown some worrying simplicities in his approach to the natural world and the intricacies of nuclear deterrence and proliferation, he has appointed some experienced professionals at the Pentagon; so far no apprentices here! If the defence budget does ratchet further up, he will certainly need some even better procurement managers.

Trade policy – a cliff edge beckons?

The biggest unknown is still trade policy and the possible impact of protectionist sentiment. Bringing back American jobs in aerospace threatens to disturb complex supply chains without making much difference to employment – especially when the US is facing a shortage of skilled technicians and engineers. Equally, an attempt to enforce WTO judgements, rather than waving them in PR campaigns would damage everybody. Similarly, a heavier handed approach to airline ‘Open Skies’ might give some lacklustre US carriers a breathing space but the passenger would inevitably come off worst. Investment in airport infrastructure is, however, long overdue and a couple of ‘Trump terminals’ might be a price worth paying.

Cheap skate Europeans watch out

For the Europeans (and in this respect that still includes the UK), President Trump’s well-rehearsed attacks on free loading NATO members abated over the holidays. Getting some European states to cough up more for collective defence would not be a bad idea. Security realities may yet ease the threat to Atlantic solidarity and, again, the new President has not really shown much of an interest in foreign policy, notwithstanding some interesting Tweets (Tweetomacy?).

Pulling out crumbs of comfort from a year of challenging events has become a bit of a habit. But a belated best wishes to everyone for the New Year.

So it is President Trump. The bunting is swept up and the White House has a new First Family: and the world faces a bucketful of uncertainty. His Cabinet has already broken a record – as the richest in history. A naïve observer might think that this might auger well for US industry and for the aerospace sector in particular. One of President Eisenhower’s Defense Secretaries said: “What is good for General Motors is good for the United States.” President Eisenhower later went on memorably to warn against the acquisition of unwarranted infl uence “by the military industrial complex.” That complex is now one of the most impressive elements in the US national security arena and one of America’s leading manufacturing sectors.

Defence aerospace should do well

The Trump election certainly saw defence stocks rise in anticipation of additional defence spending. However, given the President’s predilection for converting the complexities of procurement and nuclear strategy into 140 characters, life for American defence aerospace over the next four years might be somewhat exciting. Early targets were the new Presidential 747 and the F-35. The new President has already met heads of industry in an evident attempt generally to trim the fat out of the defence procurement – not the fi rst and unlikely to be the last new incumbent to go down this road. Despite shoot from the hip tweeting, on balance the defence aerospace sector will not do badly, especially if Chinese-American relations deteriorate even further. Space is also hoping to attract support for prestige missions, as well as further encouragement for the space entrepreneurs.

President Trump is also the oldest person to assume the offi ce. Not that age is necessarily an issue but President Reagan reportedly thought the ‘Star Wars’ laser weapon animations were the real thing – he was of course Hollywood-trained. In fairness, we cannot assume high-order technical

The Last Word

Hail to the Chief

Professor Keith HaywardFRAeS

COMMENTARY FROM

BRINGING BACK AMERICAN JOBS IN AEROSPACE THREATENS TO DISTURB COMPLEX SUPPLY CHAINS WITHOUT MAKING MUCH DIFFERENCE TO EMPLOYMENT


www.aerosociety.com/events

UAS Conference

RPAS OPERATIONS IN THE COASTAL AND MARITIME ENVIRONMENT

LONDON / 7 FEBRUARY 2017

This conference will discuss the application of RPAS in the maritime environment including the latest developments in commercial, government and military operations.

Presentations by subject matter experts will be followed by workshop discussion and capture of the key points arising.

Sponsorship

Sponsor and exhibitor opportunities are available for this workshop. For more information please contact [email protected] or +44 (0) 20 7670 4345


Lecture Series

LECTURES AT RAeS HQ

FEBRUARY 2017Flight Testing the AW159 9 February

UAV’s for Humanitarian Aid16 February

Leading the way to the Flightdeck - How to appeal to the other 50%24 February

Human Powered Flight - 40 Years since the first Kremer Prize27 February

Sponsorship and speaking opportunities

Sponsorship opportunities are available for all lectures.

Do you have a talk or presentation you would like to present at the RAeS?

For more information please contact [email protected]

www.aerosociety.com/HumanitarianAero

Air Power Conference

HUMANITARIAN AEROSPACE:THE CIVIL - MILITARY INTERFACE

LONDON / 16 FEBRUARY 2017

Sponsors

This conference will explore the potential for the development of military and civil interoperability in humanitarian operations.

From the initial detection and monitoring of developing events to the establishment of long term airlifts, this event will focus on the ways civilian and military air operations can work together in dealing with humanitarian relief missions, from start to finish.


UAS Workshop

A RISK BASED APPROACH TO RPAS OPERATIONS

LONDON / 22 MARCH 2017

Sponsorship

The aim of this workshop is to build consensus for the use of a risk-based approach (RBA) to RPAS operations to achieve the required level of safety in an economically efficient manner.

This is a unique workshop dedicated to assessing a new RBA methodology for RPAS.

Sponsor and exhibitor opportunities are available for this workshop. For more information please contact [email protected] or +44 (0) 20 7670 4345

accelerating innovation · general aviation bizjet blended-wing intelligence / analysis / co mment...

Documents