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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
BLU
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China Southern A350-900
NAVBLUE for Silver
P M
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Airb
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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