March 2021 March COVID-19– AN AIRCREW CRISIS? HEALTH MENTAL SPACEFLIGHT IN 2021 ROTORCRAFT MILITARY REQUIREMENTS FOR 2040 150 YEARS OF THE WIND TUNNEL TUNNEL VISION TUNNEL www.aerosociety.com AEROSPACE March 2021 Volume 48 Number 3 Royal Aeronautical Society Find Success with AIAA Online Courses AIAA online short courses help you stay sharp while improving your knowledge base. The 2021 spring catalog features 11 courses spanning an array of disciplines. We’re committed to assisting in your professional development and maximizing your success. Enroll in an upcoming course. Hypersonics: Test and Evaluation 18 March–8 April | 4 Lectures | 8 Total Hours Design of Space Launch Vehicles 6 April–13 May | 12 Lectures | 24 Total Hours Missile Aerodynamics, Propulsion, and Guidance 14–30 April | 6 Lectures | 12 Total Hours Electrochemical Energy Systems for Electrified Aircraft Propulsion: Batteries and Fuel Cell Systems 5 May–28 May | 8 Lectures | 16 Total Hours Optimal Control Techniques for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles On Demand | 20 Lectures | Approx. 9 Total Hours Can’t attend the live online lectures? Courses will be available on demand. BROWSE THE FULL COURSE CATALOG aiaa.org/SpringCourses Volume 48 Number 3 March 2021 EDITORIAL Contents A second lost summer? Regulars 4 Radome 12 Transmission The latest aviation and Your letters, emails, tweets The development and swift roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines in the UK had raised aeronautical intelligence, and social media feedback. hopes for the beleaguered airline, airport and travel sector that restrictions analysis and comment. would start to lift and international flights resume. However, this optimism 58 The Last Word 11 Pushing the Envelope Keith Hayward looks at had harsh reality applied when Transport Secretary Grant Shapps MP told Rob Coppinger considers investment in aerospace and BBC Breakfast that international holidays and business travel this year would the implications of artificial how much the UK should ‘depend on everybody having their vaccinations’, adding that people ‘would intelligence on the protect its strategic assets flightdeck. from foreign takeovers. have to wait for other countries to catch up’. Current estimates for the UK suggest that the adult population could all have the jab by autumn but it could Features take until 2023-24 to vaccinate the entire global population. Predictably, Wambampram these statements have drawn fury from the UK aerospace sector, who are 32 already hanging on by their fingernails and battling to survive. Indeed, as AEROSPACE goes to press, the UK has just introduced tighter restrictions 14 QinetiQ for those entering the country, with a ten-day mandatory quarantine from high- risk pandemic areas and up to ten years in prison for falsifying travel history. Digital testing Of course, there is likely to be a staggered easing of restrictions as individual QinetiQ is developing new nations complete vaccination programmes and countries get the all-clear as Winds of change digital systems and airborne holiday destinations. However, for the passenger, the uncertainty of new rules How the creation of the test platforms which will first wind tunnel by the accelerate the flight testing makes for a stark choice – either to take a risk booking flights with ever- Aeronautical Society in 1871 of new and modified aircraft. changing restrictions that may see holiday dreams dashed by the emergence led to their development around the world. of new strains or hot zones, or potentially wait at least another year before 36 Blade runners for contemplating foreign travel. For UK airlines, with idle aircraft and for airports 20 Son of the An-2 2040+ Russia’s latest project to Report on the RAeS Next- with empty runways, there may not be the option of a ‘second lost summer’ develop a utility aircraft Generation Military Rotorcraft without immediate and massive government sector-specific support. The UK successor to the legendary conference: Future Military aviation sector is already on the ropes – another grounded summer could An-2 biplane. Medium-Lift Helicopter for Boeing 2040+. knock it out. AAR Tim Robinson FRAeS, Editor-in-Chief 22 [email protected] @RAeSTimR 40 Correspondence on all aerospace matters is welcome at: [email protected] Spaceflight in 2021 – Editor-in-Chief Editorial Office 2021 AEROSPACE subscription a look ahead Keeping it in-country Tim Robinson, FRAeS Royal Aeronautical Society rates: Non-members, £190 +44 (0)20 7670 4353 No.4 Hamilton Place An overview of international India repositions its approach To place your order, contact: commercial and state-funded to the MRO industry post- [email protected] London W1J 7BQ, UK Wayne J Davis +44 (0)20 7670 4300 crewed and uncrewed space Covid-19. Deputy Editor +44 (0)20 7670 4354 [email protected] missions in 2021. Bill Read, FRAeS [email protected] +44 (0)20 7670 4351 www.aerosociety.com Any member not requiring a print 28 Covid-19 – a hidden [email protected] AEROSPACE is published by the Royal version of this magazine should mental health crisis? As the 42 Logbooks under scrutiny Aeronautical Society (RAeS). contact: [email protected] Production Manager pandemic takes a mental toll on Alan Dron investigates the Wayne J Davis Chief Executive USA: Periodical postage paid at pilots and professionals is it time problem of false pilot licences +44 (0)20 7670 4354 Sir Brian Burridge CBE FRAeS Champlain New York and additional for airlines to up their game? and the implications for safety. 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Annabel Hallam Reproduction of material used in this 48 Book Reviews +44 (0)20 7670 4361 publication is not permitted without the 51 Library Additions [email protected] written consent of the Editor-in-Chief. 52 New Members Spotlight Book Review Editors Printed by Buxton Press Limited, Tony Pilmer and Katrina Sudell Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire 53 2021 Council Elections [email protected] SK17 6AE, UK 54 RAeS Diary Original artwork ©Wayne J Davis/RAeS Distributed by Royal Mail 56 Elections Additional content is available to view online at: aerosociety.com/aerospaceinsight Read AEROSPACE and the insight blog on your Including: Reimagining the future of civil aviation, Morphing aircraft designs, The need for a European civil X-plane, New Member spotlight, In the February issue of AEROSPACE, Spaceflight in smartphone or tablet with the AEROSPACE app Online 2021 – A look ahead, How Cool Aeronautics went digital, Biomimicry in aerospace design. APP available from iTunes and Google Play Front cover: A Boeing concept model being tested in the supersonic wind tunnel at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. (NASA) @aerosociety i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com MARCH 2021 13 Blueprint INTELLIGENCE / ANALYSIS / COMMENT Clean wing Removing the engines and pylons from the wings saves 8,000kg in weight and also allows for a highly efficient laminar-flow wing, reducing drag. V-tail Without the need for a large vertical rudder for asymmetric handling, the tail and empennage can be lightened with a V-tail configuration, saving 3,000kg in weight. Rear propulsor The IP2 would feature dual contra-rotating ducted fans, powered by brushless electric motors that would encircle the rear fuselage. Not having to protect or reinforce the fuselage against uncontained fan-blade separation from wing-mounted engines would also save weight. Conseil et Technique Conseil et Technique 4 AEROSPACE Specifications Aeronautical fineness 17 MTOW 75,000kg Endurance (current technology) 78min Endurance (predicted) 5hr Battery packs By reducing its structural weight and removing 20,000kg of fuel, this would allow heavy batteries to be installed, says the firm. Conseil et Technique envisages a ‘plug & play’ solution to quickly recharge or swap battery packs at airports, as well as being able to shift the packs internally before flight to account for different pay- loads and CoG. AIR TRANSPORT Electric tailspin French engineering and design consultancy Conseil et Technique has revealed a concept for an electric-powered A320-sized airliner, the Integrated Propeller Plane (IP2), that shifts the engines from the wings to an integrated propulsion fan around the tail driven by brushless motors. As well as zero-emissions, Conseil et Technique says that, by relocating the engines from the wing, this will reduce 8,000kg of structural weight, eliminate asymmetric handling problems on take-off, enable laminar-flow wings and also remove uncontained engine fan blade issues. Using today’s battery efficiency of 0.15kWh/kg, the firm says that the IP2 would be able to fly for 78 minutes, rising to 323 minutes with 0.4kWh/kg batteries, expected to be available in five years time. IP2, says the company, could also be adapted to use hydogen propulsion. MARCH 2021 5 Radome COVID-19 AIR TRANSPORT AEROSPACE Matthias Ripp Over 50% of airline pilots currently Rolls-Royce mulls two- not flying week summer shutdown UK engine manufacturer business who would Rolls-Royce is reported have to take two weeks to be considering a unpaid leave through two-week temporary wage reductions spread shutdown of its out over the year. The commercial engine firm has been particularly business during the hard-hit by the collapse summer to assist in in long-haul flights flown stemming losses caused by widebody aircraft A survey carried out by Goose Recruitment and industry publication FlightGlobal by the pandemic. First powered by its engines.