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ONE OF the most active areas

in the aerospace industry right

now is the development of

electric aircraft.

There are no fewer than

170 di! erent electric aircraft

development projects around the

world, according to a May 2019

estimate by consultancy Roland

Berger, which it says is an increase

of 50% since April 2018. The

consultancy says there could be

around 200 such projects by the

end of this year.

Electric aircraft projects span

various areas in the commercial

aviation market. There are

electrically powered unmanned

systems designed for urban air

mobility, a catch-all term for the

growing ecosystem that includes

air taxis and cargo delivery drones

to transport passengers, goods and

supplies around urban areas.

There are electric aircraft

planned for the business aviation

and general aviation markets,

small commuter aircraft providing

short to medium-haul services for

regional airline requirements, and

electric aircraft demonstrators

from major aircraft manufacturers

designed to study and prove the

technologies of batteries and

electrical power distribution

systems.

According to the Roland Berger

research, air taxis account for more

than half of the 170 electric aircraft

development projects and regional

and commuter aircraft for around

a tenth.

The consultancy identifi es

Europe and North America as

key areas for electric aircraft

development. Out of those 170

projects, it counts 72 in Europe and

67 in North America, the remainder

made up by sprinklings of projects

across Asia-Pacifi c and South

America.

The quickening pace of

development activities around

urban air mobility has been partly

due to the entry into the electric

aviation area by some major

aerospace original equipment

manufacturers.

In January 2019, for example,

Boeing announced the successful

fi rst test fl ight of its autonomous

passenger air vehicle (PAV)

prototype developed by its Boeing

NeXt division and Aurora Flight

Sciences. The vertical take-o!

and landing PAV can carry two

passengers and has a range of up

to 50 miles (80km).

Another electric aviation

project in which Boeing is

involved is a strategic partnership

with Kitty Hawk Corporation to

use that company’s Cora two-

person air taxi to research safe

urban air mobility.

The Roland Berger research

says: “That urban air taxis and

general aviation projects dominate

in fully electric propulsion remains

unsurprising. Not only are smaller

developments easier to fund and

test, but current electrical systems

technology still favours lower

power and shorter distance fl ights.”

There are grander plans,

though. The recent Paris Air Show

turned out to be a focal point for

announcements in the electric

aviation segment. Especially

striking news was Rolls-Royce

announcing it is to acquire the

electric and hybrid-electric

aerospace propulsion activities

of Siemens, a deal expected to

be completed later in 2019, to

advance the development of

Electric dreamsCora, designed and built by Kitty Hawk Corporation,

is one of dozens of electric aircraft projects.

Kitty Hawk Corporation via Boeing

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BACKPAGESall-electric and hybrid electric

propulsion solutions for aerospace.

Rolls-Royce and Siemens have

already been involved in the E-Fan

X demonstrator project with Airbus

to showcase electric propulsion

at the scale required to power

regional aircraft.

Paris also saw the Israeli

company Eviation Aircraft show

a prototype of its Alice nine-

seat commuter aircraft powered

by a hybrid electric engine and

announce the US regional airline

Cape Air as the aircraft’s fi rst

customer, although no details

were released about the size of

the order.

Another start-up developer,

VoltAero, showed a mock-up of

a hybrid power module. VoltAero

is planning to start fl ight testing

of a demonstrator called Cassio

1, based on a Cessna 337, with

the front engine replaced by

electric motors. The company

is planning a new-build aircraft,

the Cassio 2, based on the Cassio

1’s confi guration but using an

all-composite airframe and a fully

hybrid engine.

Separately, as reported in the

July 2019 issue of AIR International,

Airbus, Dahler and Safran also used

Paris to announce the EcoPulse

initiative to develop a hybrid engine

for testing on a TBM 700.

It is, however, unlikely people

will be fl ying long distances on

an electric aircraft any time soon.

Energy density of battery systems

is an issue. Roland Berger’s analysis

notes: “A battery gravimetric

density of ~500Wh/kg would

be required as a minimum for

viable aircraft that could one

day be competitive with today’s

propulsion systems for regional

and large commercial fl ight; this is

not expected before 2030.”

Starting with smaller hybrid

aircraft and then scaling the

technology up is the most

obvious path forward for

electric technologies

Beyond battery technology

however, there are many other

practical issues facing electric

aircraft, whether the goal is

introducing autonomous air taxis

or a larger commuter aircraft.

What infrastructure adjustment or

energy generation is required to

accommodate electric aircraft?

What will be the model for

organisations operating them?

How will developers and operators

make money?

Regulations and certifi cation are

crucial pieces in the jigsaw. There

will necessarily have to be a lot of

work into standards and operations.

Detailed safety cases, risk analyses

and testing regimes will need to be

developed (for example, around

the health of batteries, the safety

of high-voltage cabling and power

distribution systems) and protocols

agreed and implemented across

the industry and proven to work.

This area is especially crucial for

the area of urban air mobility, if the

vision developers like to portray

when they release CGI renderings

of futuristic-looking autonomous

systems whizzing over cities

delivering people and cargo, is to

become a reality.

It is clear all areas of the industry

will have to work together to move

electric aircraft from curiosities to

platforms of relevance to daily life.

Although this is a big task and will

inevitably take some time, it makes

electric aviation an interesting area

to watch. Mark Broadbent

Electric dreams

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SINGLE-AISLE narrowbody

airliners able to fl y long haul are

not new. Boeing 757s have plied

routes across the North Atlantic

for years, the big US network

carriers American Airlines,

Delta Air Lines and United

Airlines all using the type in the

transatlantic market.

The 757 fi ts nicely into these

airlines’ fl eets by o! ering a cost-

e! ective way to serve so-called

‘thin’ routes from major hubs to

secondary destinations that don’t

have the passenger numbers to

justify putting a larger twin-aisle

widebody on them.

Other single-aisle jets used

on transatlantic routes are the

737-800 and 737 MAX 8 (the latter

until its grounding), with WestJet

737-800s used from Canada and

Norwegian 737 MAX 8s used on

some routes to the United States.

Norwegian has also ordered the

A321LR, the long-range A321neo

subvariant with 4,000 nautical

miles (7,408km) range that entered

service (with Arkia Israeli Airlines) to

cater for the transatlantic market.

Single-aisle usage for long haul

is set to become more prevalent

elsewhere. The CAPA Centre for

Aviation consultancy says: “There

are huge opportunities within the

vast Asia Pacifi c region for LCCs

[low-cost carriers] to utilise the

improved range of new generation

narrowbody aircraft.”

CAPA says although Asia-Pacifi c

is a key region for LCCs, with

operators ranging in size from

AirAsia, IndiGo, GoAir and VietJet

to smaller players such as 9 Air

and Spring Airlines in China, only

two LCCs in the region, IndiGo

and VietJet, currently use single-

aisles on routes beyond fi ve hours’

fl ight time. Operators fl ying long

haul in the region such as AirAsia,

Jetstar, Scoot and Cebu Pacifi c

mainly use widebody twin-aisles

like Airbus A330s and 787s for

such routes instead.

This is set to change, however,

because more LCCs in the region

have ordered more examples of

the furthest-fl ying single-aisles.

Jetstar Airways, its sister operation

Jetstar Japan and the Japanese

LCC Peach have all committed to

acquiring A321LRs, each saying

it will use the aircraft to serve

new long-haul routes around

southeast Asia.

One interesting player in this

respect could be AirAsia. The

carrier’s AirAsia X unit already

fl ies long haul using A330s,

but in CAPA’s view: “There is

nothing preventing AirAsia X

from supplementing its existing

widebody fl eet with narrowbody

aircraft on long-haul routes

. . . AirAsia and AirAsia X are

separate companies with

di! erent ownership groups and

stock listings, but they share a

website, brand and distribution

network.”

The consultancy added: “A

potential A321LR order from

AirAsia X would have signifi cant

strategic implications, leading to

much faster growth within Asia

Pacifi c in the low-cost long-haul

narrowbody segment. AirAsia

X may use A321LRs to replace

A330-300s on its thinner routes

to North Asia, including Japan,

as well as opening new routes to

north Asia, south Asia and Australia

that would not be viable with

widebody aircraft.”

Further spice to the long-haul

narrowbody mix has been provided

by the A321XLR, launched by

Airbus in June 2019. This new

A321neo variant boasts even

further range than the A321LR,

o! ering 4,700 nautical miles

(8,400km).

Flying furtherFlynas is among the launch customers for the A321XLR. Airbus

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In terms of the Asia-Pacifi c

market specifi cally, it was notable

that both the Qantas Group

(parent company of Jetstar) and

Cebu Pacifi c were among launch

customers for the A321XLR,

signing commitments for 36 and

ten examples respectively. What

chance A321XLRs might be heading

to Jetstar, given A321LRs are

already destined for the carrier?

These might not be the last

A321XLR operators from the region,

given the number of incumbent

A320neo Family customers there. The

A321XLR (and the A321LR) give airlines

an opportunity to put in right-sized

capacity for long-haul markets too

small for widebodies, but too large for

a standard-gauge single-aisles.

An interesting announcement

at Paris in this respect was AirAsia

converting no fewer than 235

A320neo orders to the A321neo.

Might AirAsia further amend its

Airbus orders to take on A321XLRs?

Although it has ordered A330-900s

for AirAsia X, an A321LR or A321XLR

conversion might make sense for

the carrier to grow its presence in

certain parts of its network.

Airbus is confi dent about the

A321XLR’s prospects in this region;

it was noticeable on launching the

variant the company specifi cally

cited how several key routes in the

region (Tokyo–Delhi, Auckland–

Hawaii, Kuala Lumpur–Dubai) fall in

the subvariant’s range.

Back in the transatlantic market,

the A321XLR clearly fi ts into many

operators’ requirements, as orders

from American Airlines (50 aircraft),

IAG (up to 28 aircraft for Aer Lingus

and Iberia), Indigo Partners (some of

whose 50 aircraft will go to Frontier

Airlines) and JetBlue (13) all show.

With Delta and United both

operating ageing midsize

equipment, and other carriers in

Europe, Latin America and the

Middle East eyeing long-haul

expansion (the Saudi LCC Flynas

was another A321XLR launch

customer with an order for ten), it

is possible other airlines will take on

the latest, more capable single-

aisles. Mark Broadbent

REGIONAL CARRIER Silver

Airways has selected NAVBLUE

to design, test, train, implement

and administer a range of

operations control centre

products to improve the

e! ciency of its operations.

NAVBLUE, a supplier of

integrated fl ight operations

software, will supply Silver

Airways with its N-Flight Planning,

described as “a multi-tiered

browser-based fl ight planning

system” that will enable users to

compute highly optimised fl ight

trajectories swiftly, factoring

payload, aircraft performance,

current weather and air tra" c

constraints, with the ability to

optimise for minimum fl ight time,

fuel burn or total cost.

NAVBLUE will also provide

Silver Airways with its N-RAIDO

solution for operational control

and crew management, including

scheduling and planning, to help

Silver track crew duty/rest, training,

vacation, medical checks and

passport expiry. The airline will

further use the N-Crew LBS and

N-Crew Pairing Optimiser software

to fi lter and sort crew pairings and

manage their schedules.

Brent James, Silver Airways

Vice President Operations, said:

“We have already seen positive

tangible benefi ts to our operation,

including improved employee

access to critical operational

information via NAVBLUE’s easy-

to-use interface, and we look

forward to their systems providing

even further improvement

to Silver Airways’ operational

e" ciency and communication.”

Mark Broadbent

CHINA SOUTHERN Airlines has

taken delivery of its initial A350-

900, the fi rst of 20 examples of the

newest Airbus twin-aisle widebody

to be received by the Guangzhou-

based carrier.

China Southern operates an

Airbus fl eet of 335 aircraft, including

282 A320 Family aircraft, 48 A330s

and fi ve A380s.

China Southern’s A350-900

aircraft features a three-class

cabin layout of 314 seats: 28

business, 24 premium economy

and 262 economy.

The airline will initially operate the

new aircraft on its domestic routes

from Guangzhou to Shanghai

and Beijing, followed by fl ights to

international destinations.

China Southern joins Air China,

Asiana, Cathay Pacifi c, China

Airlines, China Eastern Airlines,

Hong Kong Airlines, Japan Airlines,

Philippine Airlines, Singapore Airlines

and Vietnam Airlines as carriers in

Asia-Pacifi c to have received A350s.

To date, fi rm orders for the family

from carriers in the region represent

over a third of total sales for the

type, with Sichuan Airlines and

Starlux other customers set to put

variants of the aircraft into service in

the future.

At the end of May 2019, the

A350 XWB Family had received

893 fi rm orders from 51 customers

worldwide. Mark Broadbent

NAV

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China Southern A350-900

NAVBLUE for Silver

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CONCORDE REMAINS the most

vivid symbol of technical progress

in the commercial aircraft

industry. How can it not be? It

let people in everyday clothes

fl y at a speed faster than a rifl e

bullet, taking them high into the

stratosphere and a" ording them a

view of the curvature of the Earth.

The early dream that

Concorde represented the future

for commercial aviation was just

that, illusory, with the jet ending

up as a highly niche aircraft used

mainly by moneyed and/or time-

sensitive passengers who could

a! ord to fl y it. The aircraft still

became a pop culture icon, of

course, which added gloss to its

glamorous image.

Nearly 16 years after Concorde

last fl ew – a curious moment given

how an aircraft that still looked

futuristic became a museum piece

– there are still some years yet

before supersonic passenger air

travel is a reality again, but there are

e! orts to make it happen.

In June, Lockheed Martin

unveiled its Quiet Supersonic

Technology Airliner (QSTA)

concept with a relative lack of

fanfare; it was announced at the

American Institute of Aeronautics

and Astronautics Aviation Forum

in Washington, DC, and not at the

Paris Air Show, this year’s biggest

aerospace event, which began on

the same day.

Lockheed Martin told AIR

International: “QSTA continues

more than two decades of

experience advancing quiet

supersonic technologies. [It] is a

conceptual design and the result of

a study completed to understand

what a passenger-carrying aircraft

leveraging quiet supersonic

technologies could look like.”

The company’s CGI rendering of

the QSTA concept shows a striking

planform with sharply swept-back

delta wings and twin tails. The

QSTA would be equipped with two

40,000lb-thrust (177kN) engines

and seat 40 passengers, according

to a Lockheed Martin slide on the

aircraft’s confi guration.

The jet would be 225ft (68m)

in length and have a 78ft (23m)

wingspan, making it roughly the

same length as the Boeing 787-10,

the largest 787 Dreamliner variant,

and about as wide as a smaller

regional jet. Wing area would be

3,000ft2 (279m2) and gross weight

210,000lb (95,254kg).

The QSTA work is a separate

e! ort from Lockheed Martin’s work

with NASA on the X-59 QuESST

(Quiet Supersonic Transport)

demonstrator, built for the Low-

Boom Flight Demonstration

mission that will see the aircraft fl y

over communities in the United

States to gather data about quiet

supersonic fl ights. The X-59 will fl y

in 2022.

In June NASA announced the

X-59 will not have a forward-facing

cockpit window. Instead, a 4K

monitor will provide the central

forward view showing the pilot

stitched images from two external

cameras which, combined with

terrain data from an advanced

computing system, will provide

what NASA calls an eXternal

Visibility System or XVS. Displays

beneath the XVS will provide

aircraft systems and trajectory data.

Two portals on the fuselage and the

traditional canopy will enable the

pilot to see the horizon.

The XVS is designed, NASA

explained, to help ensure the

X-59’s design shape reduces a

sonic boom. The data collected

during the X-59 test fl ights will

be presented to the US Federal

Aviation Administration, enabling

the regulator to make an informed

decision on whether to scrap

the current regulations banning

commercial supersonic fl ight

over land, which torpedoed the

commercial hopes for Concorde

back in the 1970s.

Lockheed Martin said:

“Overturning this ban [creates]

the opportunity for an entire

new industry. With the ability

to fl y anywhere in the world

in half the time it takes today,

there is a tremendous amount

of market potential for aircraft

manufacturers.”

This potential explains why other

companies are planning aircraft

they hope will one day open a

new age of supersonic passenger

air travel. Aerion Supersonic and

Spike Aerospace are developing

supersonic business jets, while

Denver, Colorado-based Boom

Supersonic is planning a supersonic

airliner called Overture.

Boom is developing a

demonstrator called the XB-1

that will generate data to

support the development of

aerodynamics, stability, control

and handling qualities, the

propulsion inlet, nozzle and

control systems for Overture.

Boom gave an update about

its work at the Paris Air Show. Its

plans are delayed. Having earlier

announced its intention to fl y the

XB-1 in 2019, only rollout is planned

by the end of this year, with fl ight

tests now planned for 2020.

However, Boom says there has

been progress. The company said

supersonic inlet wind tunnel tests

demonstrated performance to

reach the targeted Mach 2.2 fl ight

speed is achievable and that the

XB-1 “exceeded the performance

of Concorde’s inlets”.

Full range fl ight telemetry system

tests proved a two-way data link

for XB-1 and spin tunnel testing has

been carried out to understand the

departure modes of the aircraft,

as well as what the company

called “fully comprehensive aero

database generation” simulating

aerodynamic fl ow.

Boom also announced

other companies will provide

specialist input into its project.

Dassault Systèmes will use its

3DEXPERIENCE software to

accelerate the design process,

JPA Design will design the

interior and Stratasys will supply

3D-printed polymer-based parts.

Mark Broadbent

Supersonic hopes

Lockheed Martin has

unveiled its Quiet Supersonic

Technology Airliner concept.

Lockheed Martin

A 4K monitor showing a view of the

world outside will serve as the central

forward view on the X-59 QuESST

demonstrator. NASA

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