The Fanblade

In 2006 I worked on a book about the new 787 programme, and as part of our research the Editors were taken around the world on a 40-year old corporate 727, visiting factories in North Carolina, Italy and Japan. We learned much about the technology of this game-changing aircraft, and I became a believer (trying to remain objective of course!) My instinct told me that perhaps all this was too good to be true and so it is turning out to be the case – but not exactly for the reason I had thought. Not yet, anyway. For now it is mainly problems at those global partners we visited almost two years ago, when they had just finished building their 787 facilities. Wing-box structural problems have also caused some delay – in a webcast earlier today current 787 general manager Pat Shanahan said that a miscalculation in finite element analysis meant strengthening was required just as wiring work was coming to the centre section – causing a month or so delay. All in all, the latest slippage is, says Boeing, conservative enough to account (hopefully) for any other unforeseen problems. There’s essentially a six-month slippage, two months to system power-up (now June), two months extra between that and first flight, and two months leeway in the flight test programme. As AIN has just reported on its daily news e-mail, the 25 aircraft that will now be delivered in 2009 is less than the 35 that were moved from 2008 due to the first slippage. The Times of London reported this morning that the total slippage would be 18 months, compared to the original plan, and they were right. Let’s hope there are no more problems with the potentially game-changing aircraft, so that we really can see the first flight by Christmas this year.

Is there a middle way between owning your own light aircraft, and having access to a corporate jet? This simple question has many possibilities but relatively few market solutions at present. But that doesn’t mean that entrepreneurs aren’t pushing the bounds. Stephanie McWilliam of Farnborough-based Private Air Travel is keen  to find out whether her company can manage aircraft for groups of owners without an Air Operators Certificate, as is possible in the US thanks to FAR 91 Subpart K (added around five years ago to remove precisely this uncertainty in the US market). The problem for a small company in general aviation is that an AOC is prohibitively expensive to obtain and maintain, due to requirements designed for airlines. They are also used by business jet charter operators and those running fractional ownership schemes, but these can still be considered to be  the “big boys”. What McWilliam wants is a clear path to allowing businessmen and high net worth individuals to have a business aircraft in the £5-600 per hour bracket, rather than £2-3,000 an hour. She argues that Private Air Travel would not be the operator, but would manage the paperwork which allows everything to fall into place and remain in compliance. The planned aircraft would be small turboprops, such as the Farnborough Aircraft Kestrel. While EASA is due to take on JAR OPS regulations (revised and to be known as EASA OPS), there is considerable uncertainty, and speculation that EASA may bring in a Subpart K equivalent. If there are any aviation lawyers out there who would like to explain this complex area and where it is all heading, Fanblade would like to hear from you!

The International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) has expressed its concern at a request by the French state prosecutors (made by the Pontoise office last month) that manslaughter charges be brought against John Taylor and Stanley Ford, employees of Continental Airlines, in connection with the 25 July 2000 crash of an Air France Concorde. Taylor was the mechanic who allegedly fitted the wrong strip to the engine of a Continental DC-10, while Ford was the head of maintenance. IFALPA believes that such legal actions will not improve air safety and could in fact have a negative impact, and that criminal prosecution for ‘negligence’ should only follow where there is “intent to either do harm or to disregard the high probability that harm would occur.” Where employees attempt to get it right but do not succeed, IFALPA believes that to prosecute them would be the wrong approach. The strip fell off on the runway at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, causing the Concorde’s tyre to burst when it ran over the strip. The resulting debris punctured the fuel tank in the wing. The French state prosecutor is also seeking to bring charges against Henri Perrier, former Concorde programme chief at Airbus, and Claude Franzen, former head of training at the DGAC. It is alleged that a design flaw in the aircraft’s wing which contributed to the aircraft not surviving the incident has been known about since 1979. The pilots tried to divert to Le Bourget but crashed at Gonesse having lost control.

Gulfstream has announced a new business jet. The G650 will be able to fly further and faster than the G550 (Mach 0.925) and faster even than the Cessna Citation (M0.92) thus becoming the world’s fastest commercial aircraft when it enters service in 2012. To achieve this, it will be powered by more powerful Rolls-Royce engines, BR725s, each of which will produce 17,000lb thrust but with a 4dB drop in cumulative noise and 4% improvement in specific fuel consumption (sfc). This year marks 50 years since the first flight of the the Gulfstream I, which was also powered by Rolls engines (Darts). Since then over 3,000 Rolls engines have been delivered to Gulfstream. However, the British engine maker faces a tough battle against Pratt & Whitney to power future aircraft programs, P&W having forged ahead with its Geared Turbofan (GTF) in the 17,000lb thrust class. Pratt claims that the GTF will be 10-15% more efficient than current engines, as its fan is geared to allow it to rotate at a slower speed than the low-pressure turbine. Thus both it and the LPT can operate within their most efficient speed ranges, and not be forced to turn at the same rate.

The Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) has put out a handy summary on yesterday’s budget, the first by the UK’s new chancellor Alistair Darling. As expected, the environment was a central feature – for example, Air Passenger Duty is to be replaced by a Per Plane Duty beginning 1 November 2009. Also of note was an increase in counter-terrorism spending from £2.5bn in the last tax year to £3.5bn in 2010-11. Defence spending over the next year will see a further £2bn for frontline operations and £900m for equipment. According to the UK Ministry of Defence, the defence budget is set to increase from £32.6bn to £36.9bn in 2010-11, but the extra funds just announced are in addition and come out of the Treasury Reserve. Note that the US defense budget as stated exceeds $400bn, and is probably well over $500bn in reality.