Monthly Archives: November 2018

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Doc the Superfortress Comes Home

Category:News

B-29 Doc Hangar and Education Center is getting ready for opening.

One year after the construction began on the B-29 Doc Hangar and Education Center at the Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita, Kansas, the stunning Superfortress named Doc has moved in to its new home. The bricks and granite tiles that have been purchased by Doc’s supporters to raise funds for the project have arrived and are being installed outside the 32,000 square-foot facility.

But the work isn’t done yet. Doc’s Friends spokesman Josh Wells said the organization still needs to raise $800,000 to complete the $6.5 million facility. Donations can be made here and customized brick pavers are still available here.

“While we have successfully raised enough money to build the structure, there’s still plenty of work to be done to finish out the interior of the facility,” Wells said. “This will ensure generations to come will be able to learn about [the] Greatest Generation, how the B-29 helped protect our freedom, and how it helped solidify Wichita as the Air Capital of the World.”

An open house and opening of the facility is planned in January. Details of the grand opening will be released soon.

When Doc came to Wichita in 2000, the B-29 was in major need of repairs. More than 500,000 hours have been dedicated by volunteers from Doc’s Friends restoring the airplane, fundraising and getting the new education center ready for the historic airplane. “Doc has completed a 20-year journey from China Lake in the California Desert to his new home at Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita, Kansas,” Wells said. “Welcome home, Doc.”

Source: Flying


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Malaysia links airspace issues to Firefly’s Seletar hold-up

Category:News

Malaysia’s civil aviation regulator appears to be unwilling to approve plans for Firefly to operate from Seletar airport in Singapore due to issues over airspace between the two countries.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) states in a 23 November statement that “for purposes of Firefly’s safe operations into Seletar airport, there are indeed regulatory issues that needs to be resolved between the civil aviation authority of both countries.”

This includes “outstanding airspace issues to be discussed, particularly on reviewing the terms and conditions of delegation of Malaysia’s airspace to Singapore for the provision of air traffic services.”

It adds that it was not consulted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on the 1 December deadline to move turboprop operations at Changi International airport to Seletar, but respects that the authority was within its rights to do so.

FlightGlobal schedules data indicates that Firefly operates the only turboprop services into Singapore, with 70 weekly flights from Ipoh, Kuantan, and Subang.

In response, CAAS reiterated its position that Firefly has received all necessary approvals in Singapore to allow it to move its flights from Changi airport to Seletar on 1 December, in-line with a deadline to move all turboprop operations out of Changi.

The regulator adds that airport operator, Changi Airport Group, had liaised with the airline on the move, and formally advised it of the 1 December deadline in July.

However, Firefly informed the airport operator on 14 November that it was “unable to obtain approval from its regulator, CAAM, to operate into Seletar airport,” CAAS adds.

The airline announced on 22 November that it will suspend all services to Singapore from 1 December “until the relevant authorities have cleared remaining matters in relation to the Singapore authority’s plans to move turboprop operations from Changi to Seletar”.

CAAS says that it is seeking clarity from its Malaysian counterpart for the “specific regulatory concerns affecting Firefly’s safe operations”, but stresses that the airspace issues that Malaysia has raised are “not related to the shift of Firefly’s operations.”

Source: FlightGlobal


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German Dimor Acquires Waco Aircraft

Category:News

Manufacturing will continue in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Yet another legacy airplane manufacturer has been sold — Waco Aircraft Corporation. This time, it wasn’t a Chinese company that swooped up the assets of the company, which was established in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1983 to revive the classic 1930s open cockpit biplane design. Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Dimor Group Inc. bought the company this month.

Dimor Group Inc. was established this year as a subsidiary of Cologne, Germany-based Dimor Aero — a company that was established less than a year ago. Behind the company is Dieter Morszeck, the grandson of the founder or Rimowa, who recently sold the majority of the company to luxury brand conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton for a reported sum of $717 million. Morszeck has a demonstrated passion for vintage aircraft. In 2016, he introduced a Rimowa-branded Junkers F13 replica. He flew in the first flight of the Junkers with test pilot Oliver Bachmann, a flight Morszeck described as a “dream come true.”

Waco Aircraft Corporation’s president, Peter Bowers, will continue to lead the company. “We are very pleased with the acquisition of Waco by Dimor Group Inc., and we firmly believe they will be a good steward of the Waco tradition and brand,” said Bowers. “We are looking forward to working together to build a great future for the company.”

Waco produces the three-seat, tailwheel YMF-5D, the amphibious YMF-5F, and the Great Lakes 2T-1A-2.

As part of the deal, Dimor acquired a Battle Creek-based Centennial Aircraft Services, an FBO and Part 145 maintenance facility.

Source: Flying


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Bombardier Gets FAA Certification for Global 7500

Category:News

The Canadian company’s ultra-long range flagship delivers more than it originally promised.

The FAA has signed off on Bombardier’s ultra-long range, 19 passenger Global 7500 business jet. The Montreal-based company got the green light from the Canadian authorities at the end of September.

The Global 7500 has a range that surpasses its name. Bombardier claims the bizjet can fly as far as 7,700 nm, making it the only business jet capable of traveling nonstop from New York to Hong Kong or from Singapore to San Francisco. The range surpassed Bombardier’s initial target by 300 nm. Passengers can expect to travel in full comfort on those long trips. The Global 7500 is the first airplane to offer Bombardier’s newly introduced, patented Nuage seat, and it offers a full kitchen and four separate living spaces, which can be configured in a variety of ways including a permanent bed and a stand up shower. However, unless the plan is to fly halfway around the world, the trips won’t be long at the airplane’s top speed of Mach 0.925.

Up front, pilots are faced with Bombardier’s Vision Flight Deck, featuring Rockwell Collin’s Fusion system, including four 15-inch LCD displays, a head-up Guidance System, electronic checklists, graphical flight planning, Synthetic-Enhanced Vision System, electronic charts, FANS, MultiScan Weather Detection, LPV approach capability and more. Controls are managed with fly-by-wire sidesticks.

Despite its long legs, the airplane can fly to relatively challenging airports, such as Chicago Executive (PWK), which is located smack in the Chicago metropolitan area with three runways, the longest of which is 5,000 feet, and Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE) in Eagle, Colorado, located in the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of around 6,550 feet.

Bombardier has not yet handed over the keys to the first Global 7500 customer, but the company expects the first delivery to take place before the end of the year.

Source: Flying


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China Shows Off UAV Capabilities at Zhuhai

Category:News

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) continue to capture the attention of both local and foreign visitors to the Zhuhai Airshow 2018, as both state-owned and private companies offer new unmanned solutions at a pace not seen in the West. Of particular interest is the CaiHong (Rainbow)-7, developed by the 11th Research Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

A significant shift in design concept from the earlier and highly successful CaiHong Unmanned Combat Aircraft Vehicle (UCAV) family, which has gained several export orders (with Algeria being recently confirmed as an operator of the CH-4), the jet-powered CH-7 is described as a high-altitude, long-endurance, stealth platform with significant penetration capabilities.” The flying wing measures 72 feet (22 meters) wide and has a maximum takeoff weight (mtow) of 13 tonnes, payload of 2 tonnes, and top speed of Mach 0.75.

While the aircraft remains in the developmental stage, a corporate video shows that first flight is planned for 2019 and it will enter production by 2022. If successful, it will validate the capabilities of China to develop a fly-by-wire flight system for a large, tailless flying wing and could even pave the way for the country’s next-generation H-20 bomber project.

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), on the other hand, unveiled the jet-powered WJ-700 high-altitude, high-speed UCAV. The design strongly resembles the MQ-9 Reaper and CH-5 UCAV, with a jet replacing the rear-mounted propeller. Based on literature shown at the Zhuhai Airshow, the WJ-700 has an mtow of 3.5 tonnes, and endurance of 20 hours. CASIC describes the WJ-700 as designed for long-range anti-ship missions, anti-radiation missions, as well as electronic warfare and jamming. The concept model suggests four underwing pylons for a variety of munitions, including the CM-502KG anti-ship missile and the CM-102 anti-radiation missile.

Another notable UAV concept is the JY-300 unmanned early warning UAV from the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC)’s 38th Research Institute. Unveiled in a radar exhibition this June, the JY-300 features miniaturized phased-array radar strips installed on the two sides of the fuselage and the leading edge of the wings. Unlike most conventional UAVs with a radar payload, the integrated and conformal design of the JY-300 reduces drag and thus retains most of the UAV’s inherent flight performances.

CETC says the radar has a range of around 620 miles (1,000 km) and can provide surveillance of hostile ships, helicopters, and missiles from a stand-off range. Additionally, the UAV presents a smaller radar cross-section, and the unmanned and cheaper nature of the platform allows the user to free up heavier manned AEW platforms for more critical operations.

Source: AIN


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Bombardier Gets FAA Certification for Global 7500

Category:News

The Canadian company’s ultra-long range flagship delivers more than it originally promised.

The FAA has signed off on Bombardier’s ultra-long range, 19 passenger Global 7500 business jet. The Montreal-based company got the green light from the Canadian authorities at the end of September.

The Global 7500 has a range that surpasses its name. Bombardier claims the bizjet can fly as far as 7,700 nm, making it the only business jet capable of traveling nonstop from New York to Hong Kong or from Singapore to San Francisco. The range surpassed Bombardier’s initial target by 300 nm. Passengers can expect to travel in full comfort on those long trips. The Global 7500 is the first airplane to offer Bombardier’s newly introduced, patented Nuage seat, and it offers a full kitchen and four separate living spaces, which can be configured in a variety of ways including a permanent bed and a stand up shower. However, unless the plan is to fly halfway around the world, the trips won’t be long at the airplane’s top speed of Mach 0.925.

Up front, pilots are faced with Bombardier’s Vision Flight Deck, featuring Rockwell Collin’s Fusion system, including four 15-inch LCD displays, a head-up Guidance System, electronic checklists, graphical flight planning, Synthetic-Enhanced Vision System, electronic charts, FANS, MultiScan Weather Detection, LPV approach capability and more. Controls are managed with fly-by-wire sidesticks.

Despite its long legs, the airplane can fly to relatively challenging airports, such as Chicago Executive (PWK), which is located smack in the Chicago metropolitan area with three runways, the longest of which is 5,000 feet, and Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE) in Eagle, Colorado, located in the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of around 6,550 feet.

Bombardier has not yet handed over the keys to the first Global 7500 customer, but the company expects the first delivery to take place before the end of the year.

Source: Flying


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FL Technics Indonesia Awarded Vietnam AMO

Category:News

FL Technics’ subsidiary company, FL Technics Indonesia, has received an Approved Maintenance Organization (AMO) certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam. This approval opens the door for the company, based in Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, to start maintaining aircraft registered in Vietnam.

“FL Technics Indonesia have recently taken some major steps to expand the range of certifications. The company recently received an FAA Part-145 certificate and has now added this significant approval from Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Authority. With approval from the Vietnam authorities, we will now be able to broaden our reach and assist many more clients registered in Vietnam. This is a great achievement for our company and will pave the way for us to work with many new airlines and aircraft,” says Martynas Grigalavicius, CEO at FL Technics Indonesia.

Upon receiving the CAAV certificate, FL Technics Indonesia is now able to provide maintenance services for Boeing B737 and Airbus A320 family aircraft coming from various Vietnamese airlines. FL Technics Indonesia has already struck

struckpartnerships and discussed maintenance solutions with airlines such as VietJet, JetStar, Vietnam Airlines, etc.

“We have a few decade-long experience in MRO business in Northern Europe and we are determined to provide our clients the gained expert know-how, benefits from LEAN implementation in our processes and ensure the European quality standards. We are also focused on providing effective TAT which is extremely important to every airline around the world. All this and our BAY system gives us the advantage to be flexible with each of our clients,” says Martynas Grigalavicius.

FL Technics Indonesia operates in a 20 000 m² hangar and office space at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia and employs around 200 aviation professionals. The company has a wide range of services, such as interior refurbishment services, NDT inspections, composite and structural repairs, spare parts supply and can perform full C and D checks for the Airbus A320 family and Boeing B737 CL/NG aircraft.

Source: AVM

 


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Airbus battles A321neo complexity and automation hitches

Category:News

Customisation complexity on the A321neo as well as a shift to new automation are among the industrial internal difficulties facing Airbus as it battles to reach ambitious full-year delivery targets.

Airbus is aiming to deliver 800 aircraft – including 18 A220s – but has encountered further obstacles on its single-aisle lines, on top of the highly-publicised powerplant issues which affected A320neo-family production.

Chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm says the ‘cabin flex’ configuration change introduced on the A321neo, including the longer-range model, “poses some challenges”.

Wilhelm says this version is a “complex aircraft” requiring a higher level of customisation.

Production of the new models alongside the standard variants has created issues, he says, and Airbus has needed to introduce measures to “separate” the two in order to “avoid disturbance” to the assembly line flow.

Airbus has also had to invest in higher levels of automation – including a fourth A320neo final assembly line at Hamburg Finkenwerder – which has “proved to be more demanding and challenging” than the airframer expected, in terms of production ramp-up, adds Wilhelm.

The hurdles have exacerbated the earlier A320neo production problems caused by technical snags particularly affecting the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engine.

Wilhelm admits that the normally-smooth single-aisle production line has been “under fire” as a result of several revisions of planning processes driven by the various issues.

“We’ll overcome and master [them],” he insists. “We can assure you of the full attention of the commercial aircraft team.”

He believes the challenges on both the industrial side and the engine supply side – further modifications of the PW1100G engine are due next year, he says – can be overcome over the course of 2018-19, easing the path towards higher single-aisle production rates.

Airbus is continuing to plan for a hike in monthly single-aisle output to 60 aircraft next year, and is still studying rates beyond this figure

Wilhelm says the timeframe for such an increase is yet to be determined, but that it would not occur before the next decade. “It would require some investments and a longer lead-time to get ready,” he says.

Airbus delivered 395 A320-family jets over the first nine months of the year, and 503 aircraft in total. Reaching the full-year target of 800 aircraft would involve delivering almost 100 aircraft, on average, for each of the three months in the fourth quarter.

Source: FlightGlobal