Centennial Wings Takes Flight
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An influential champion for aviation in challenging times Issue 4 July/August 2018 CENTENNIAL WINGS TAKES FLIGHT he latest project to involve and inspire aviation-minded young people has taken off in spectacular form and was shown for the first time at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) in July. Launched as a joint effort between Boeing UK, the Air League and the RAF Air Cadets, the aircraft Tbuilding project was timed to celebrate the 2016 Centenary of Boeing and to be completed in time to commemorate the 2018 Centenary of the Royal Air Force. The ultralight aircraft, a Sting S4, saw some 70 ATC cadets from Northern Ireland working together on the project. Led by Squadron Leader Aaron Coulter, devoting most of his spare time to the project, the initiative involved hundreds of hours of hands-on aircraft building experience for the Air Cadets from 17 Squadrons across Northern Ireland. The aircraft has now been completed and flight testing and certification is expected by the time these words are read. The Centennial Wings project has involved collaboration involving many volunteers including those from the Ulster Aviation Society, LAA inspectors and mentoring from Boeing engineers. It will enable many Air Cadets to learn to fly over the years, and this first example will be flown with the RAF Flying Clubs’ Association (RAFFCA), an organization with a long association with the Air League. It has been announced that the second Centennial Wings project will be built in Scotland, starting later this year with the aim of completion by 2020. Commenting on the project, Air League Chairman John Steel QC, said, “The Air League is a leading provider of inspirational programmes in the STEM arena for young people wishing to develop a career in aviation and aerospace. Through participating in scholarships, bursaries, flight-taster days, lectures, company visits and other activities, many young people have seen their careers soar. The Air League very much looks forward to supporting Boeing in their next Centennial Wings project.” The Centennial Wings project team with Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper at RIAT 2018. IN THIS ISSUE Parliamentary Meeting New Director General P2 Comment by Aeronautica P3 Annual Reception and other news P4-6 Scholarships and awards P7-8 Members news and Diary events P9 www.airleague.co.uk THE AIR LEAGUE IN PARLIAMENT Chairman John Steel QC with members of the Royal Navy Specialist Aviation Recruitment Team at the House of Commons on 3 July. July was a very hectic month for Air League activities at RIAT and Farnborough, and the month also started in fine form, and very topically, in the House of Commons with a debate on the future of the British aerospace sector, attended by Parliamentarians, members and invited guests. Chaired by the Commons Defence Select Committee Chairman, Julian Lewis MP, attendees heard a panel of sector experts give their views on a wide range of issues. Air League Chairman, John Steel QC, opened with comments that included the need for industry to develop a more constructive dialogue with Parliament, the need for more investment in STEM and cutting edge technology and greater clarity by all in the debate of future policy and implementation. Airbus’s VP Strategy and Corporate Affairs, Jeremy Greaves, spoke of the considerable investment made by the company in the UK, and its market success, with a backlog of over 7,000 aircraft, as well as current Brexit challenges and uncertainty over customs and regulatory issues. From Lockheed Martin, Mark Phillips, Head of the company’s Government Affairs, stressed the long-term commitment in not only the joint manufacture of the F-35 aircraft, but also the associated support investment in the UK and the fact that UK owned companies have a 15% share in every aircraft built, which is due to pay-back three pounds for every one spent. Other speakers included Paul Everitt, CEO of trade association ADS, who again underlined concerns over the need for government to safeguard key industry requirements and regulatory standards as the country prepares to move towards life outside the EU. It was a most timely gathering on the eve of the industry’s Farnborough show-case, and provided much food for thought and optimism regarding the potentially outstanding future for what is still one of the world’s most innovative and successful aerospace nations. NEW DIRECTOR GENERAL The Air League has a new Director General, Philip Buttery, who comes to the organization with an extensive aviation and business background. As a career officer in the Royal Air Force his appointments have included serving as a Station Commander, Head of Military Airspace and Navigation Policy at the Ministry of Defence and Finance Director at a NATO air operations centre. He is a graduate of the Aerosystems Course and a former Trials Officer at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down. He was a member of the team, seconded to Boeing, that brought the E3D and E3F into service and holds a Masters Business Degree from Cranfield University and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. He has won Service awards for the design of unmanned aircraft and electronic warfare systems and brings to the Air League an intrinsic knowledge of membership organizations, having run three in the past, two of which were Trade Associations, one of which was based in Paris. More recently Philip has New DG, Philip Buttery been a Business Development Director at BRE and the NHS. www.airleague.co.uk 2 COMMENTARY by Aeronautica FUTURE VISIONS EMERGE or far too long this column has bemoaned the lack of a consistent long-term vision and industrial strategy concerning the future direction of UK defence procurement. Buying almost everything off-the-shelf from overseas has its benefits and might look attractive to Fthe Treasury, but if continued much longer as the default policy then there would eventually be no home industry to sustain, and no aircraft to export. The harsh reality of trying to work within a defence budget which is insufficient to deliver the range of capabilities that the government’s own defence policy is committed to, has seen as a consequence a steady erosion of critical mass in all three British Services. Beneath the impressive up-to-date appearance of many military assets, are armed forces which are stretched to the limit, with little in reserve and, thanks to too many cost-saving personnel reductions, severe shortfalls in important specialist areas. Against this background it was doubly cheering therefore to hear the Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, announce on the opening day of the Farnborough International Air Show the new Combat Air Strategy, including a new Future Combat Air System Technology Initiative (FCAS TI) valued at over £2billion. Alongside an increased commitment to investment in a UK based space launch infrastructure, these measures were not only very welcome, but at last provide a strategic vision on which industry and the Royal Air Force can base their future planning, and are probably the most significant new aerospace projects in the last three decades since the Eurofighter was launched. While these announcements embrace The Tempest concept forward-looking new technology mock-up at Farnborough. opportunities in an internationally flexible framework, involving the RAF Rapid Capabilities Office, more importantly, they signal that the UK is determined to build on its world class design and sovereign capabilities and will not, as feared, let lapse the opportunity of developing an advanced next-generation air combat platform once the Typhoon has phased out of production in the second half of the next decade. The Tempest project has an impressive MOD/industry teaming line-up, which includes BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo and MBDA. A full-size concept mock-up was presented for the first time in public at Farnborough and immediately generated much interest, including from potential international partners. that the partners can bring forward and allowing Team Tempest recognizes the need for a quicker vital export revenues to be sustained, and grown, development path than previous complex aircraft long after such winners as the Tornado, Hawk projects and has already declared an intention to and Typhoon have passed into history. The initial deliver a business case by the end of this year with concept outline of Tempest shows that it is indeed initial conclusions on international partners by reaching way forward to introduce many game- next summer. Early decisions on how to acquire changing features, with radical, highly robotic the capability will be confirmed by the end of 2020 manufacturing and support features, a flexible before final investment decisions are made by payload configuration, integrated sensors and 2025. Operational capability is planned from 2035, defensive countermeasures, a reconfigurable and with the Tempest supplementing the F-35s and cyber-resilient communications system, and an eventually replacing the Typhoons in RAF service, advanced power system, Directed Energy Weapons a neat repeat of 1940s history when the Hawker and novel defence and attack weapons. In short, a Tempest replaced the original Typhoon! truly sixth generation combat platform, manned or The UK has long needed an all-new major military unmanned, and a truly world-beating proposition. air programme to design, build and integrate, Let’s hope this is the RAF/UK industry regeneration exploiting the best innovation and methodologies project we have all been waiting for. www.airleague.co.uk 3 THE ANNUAL RECEPTION A report by Terry Holloway Honorary Life President Sir Michael Marshall with award winners his year, The Air League’s Annual Reception was held on Wednesday, the 6th of June, the 74th anniversary of Operation Overlord – D Day- when the liberation of France began! However, unlike 1944 when the weather Twas miserable – the sun shone brightly and 240 Air League members, scholars, together with parents and friends and other guests enjoyed a magnificent event in the sumptuous surroundings of St James’s Palace, under the generous patronage of the Air League ‘s Patron, his Royal Highness Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh.