AER April 2021 OSPACE

AERO INDIA REVIEW CELERA 500L ANALYSIS EARTH OBSERVATION

www.aerosociety.com April 2021 Volume 48 Number 4

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EDITORIAL Contents The ‘white heat’ of a Regulars 4 Radome 12 Transmission The latest aviation and Your letters, emails, tweets defence review aeronautical intelligence, and social media feedback. As AEROSPACE goes to press, the UK government is set to unveil what has analysis and comment. 58 The Last Word been touted as the most radical defence review in a generation, preparing 11 Pushing the Envelope Keith Hayward questions Britain’s armed forces and getting them ‘match fit’ for the near-peer and Rob Coppinger considers whether the Brabazon ‘grey zone’ conflicts of the 21st Century – where potential adversaries may European studies of Committee of the 1940s is field advanced EW, cyber, weaponised drones, stealth fighters, satellites and Reaction Engines’ SABRE the best role model for the technology. UK’s future aerospace plans. hypersonics. Aiming to become a ‘science and technology superpower’ the first half of the Integrated Review, Global Britain in a Competitive Age, sets Features out the UK’s strategic ambitions. The emphasis on science and technology, a new ‘DARPA’-like high-risk body and mentions of FCAS are welcome moves 26 Private eyes on Earth How small satellites are leading by the UK to invest in future capabilities and boost the ‘prosperity agenda’. a revolution in 24/7 Earth Significantly, the review also mentions that the 2012 ‘competition by default’ observation.

rules for defence procurement will be reversed, with national industrial capability Spencer Lisenby prioritised over off-the-shelf foreign imports. Yet, to pay for these future capabilities, the current armed forces are set to be reduced significantly. While 14 30 the Army looks to take the brunt, RAF airlift is to be cut with the early retirement of C-130J fleet and the axing of No 32 Sqn (The Royal Flight). ISR is to take Airline pilot training – time a hammering with no crewed replacements for Sentinel or Islander spyplanes to revisit the basics? Does the Covid-19 pandemic and the crucial ‘force multiplers’ of E-7 Wedgetails reduced to just three. While A need for speed present an opportunity to A model glider enthusiast flies a decision over final F-35 numbers beyond 48 has been postponed, current reset and improve airline pilot a glider at 548mph using the combat air is to be reduced, with 24 Tranche 1 Typhoons retired early. Some of training? principle of dynamic soaring. these cuts in conventional forces are thus set to be balanced by a more opaque 18 Soaring aspirations and muscular UK nuclear deterrence posture, betting that raising the cap on Report on the 2021 Aero nuclear warheads will tide things over until these new future capabilities are in India aerospace and defence 34 Shape shifters airshow. How new technology is service. enabling engineers to create morphing aircraft which can Tim Robinson FRAeS, Editor-in-Chief Otto Aviation change shape in flight. [email protected] @RAeSTimR EAG Correspondence on all aerospace matters is welcome at: [email protected]

Editor-in-Chief Editorial Office 2021 AEROSPACE subscription 20 Tim Robinson, FRAeS Royal Aeronautical Society rates: Non-members, £190 +44 (0)20 7670 4353 No.4 Hamilton Place To place your order, contact: 38 [email protected] London W1J 7BQ, UK Wayne J Davis +44 (0)20 7670 4300 Deputy Editor +44 (0)20 7670 4354 Going with the flow Reimagining the future of [email protected] Bill Read, FRAeS [email protected] An analysis of the radical civil aviation +44 (0)20 7670 4351 www.aerosociety.com Any member not requiring a print efficiency and economic A Cranfield University virtual [email protected] AEROSPACE is published by the Royal version of this magazine should advantages claimed for Otto summit looked at opportunities Aeronautical Society (RAeS). contact: [email protected] Production Manager Aviation’s unconventionally- for the international aerospace Wayne J Davis Chief Executive USA: Periodical postage paid at shaped Celera 500L. industry in a post-Covid world. +44 (0)20 7670 4354 Sir Brian Burridge CBE FRAeS Champlain New York and additional [email protected] Advertising offices. +44 (0)20 7670 4346 Publications Executive Postmaster: Send address changes [email protected] Chris Male, MRAeS to IMS of New York, PO Box 1518, Afterburner Champlain NY 12919-1518, USA. +44 (0)20 7670 4352 Unless specifically attributed, no 44 Message from our President [email protected] material in AEROSPACE shall be taken ISSN 2052-451X 45 Message from our Chief Executive Production Executive to represent the opinion of the RAeS. Annabel Hallam Reproduction of material used in this 46 Book Reviews +44 (0)20 7670 4361 publication is not permitted without the [email protected] written consent of the Editor-in-Chief. 49 Library Additions Book Review Editors Printed by Buxton Press Limited, 50 New Members Spotlight Tony Pilmer and Katrina Sudell Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire 51 2021 RAeS AGM [email protected] SK17 6AE, UK 52 RAeS Diary Original artwork ©Wayne J Davis/RAeS Distributed by Royal Mail 54 Obituaries

Additional content is available to view online at: aerosociety.com/aerospaceinsight Read AEROSPACE and the insight blog on your Including: UK sustainable aviation fuels, New Member Spotlight, Peace talks in Airbus-Boeing subsidy row?, Drone and aircraft collision tests, 150 years of wind tunnels, In the March 2021 issue of smartphone or tablet with the AEROSPACE app Online AEROSPACE, The future of military rotorcraft, Aero India show report, Transonic model glider. APP available from iTunes and Google Play Front cover: Cessna 172 cockpit instruments. (123rf) @aerosociety i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com APRIL 2021 13 Blueprint

INTELLIGENCE / ANALYSIS / COMMENT

New engines The S-64F+ would also see the existing P&W JFTD12 engines replaced with new, as yet unnamed, more powerful turboshaft engines and a FADEC.

Enter the Matrix Erickson has partnered with Sikorsky to bring its autonomous fly-by-wire Matrix Technology to the S-64F+ to allow optionally piloted operations. Trialled by Sikorsky on its S-76 demonstrator, Matrix and new cockpit avionics will also enhance situational awareness and flight safety in the piloted mode during day and night operations. An HUD may also be fitted. Erickson

4 AEROSPACE New composite blades The S-64F+ would feature FAA-certificated composite main rotor blades, giving performance gains, including increased payload and climb rate, reduced vibration, fuel savings and interchangeability with legacy blades.

Water cannon The civil firefighting variant of the S-64F+ would also feature an enhanced water cannon, able to tackle high-rise fires from 70m away and capable of pumping 800 gallons of water a minute.

DEFENCE 21st Century Skycrane Portland, US-based Erickson, which holds the type certificate for the CH-64 heavy-lift helicopter, still in service in civil roles, such as firefighting as the Air Crane, has proposed a modernised military variant with autonomous capabilities. The updated fly-by-wire S-64F+ Air Crane would be optionally piloted, and would allow US Army Chinooks and USMC CH-53K helicopters to be freed up for front-line duties. The S-64F+ will also be pitched at the civil firefighting market. The company plans to fly an optionally piloted version next year and is converting its famous ‘Elvis’ S-64 to act as the S-64F+ prototype. Customer deliveries are expected to begin in 2024.

APRIL 2021 5 Radome COVID-19

AIR TRANSPORT AEROSPACE Post-Covid airline pilot First delivery of global vaccine- shortage predicted sharing scheme touches down A new survey from for the deep-seated the consulting arm of global airline pilot Oliver Wyman claims shortage, with 25,000- that airlines could suffer 35,000 current and from a ‘supply shock’ future pilots choosing shortage of pilots by up alternative career paths to 12,000 worldwide over the next decade. by 2023 and potentially The report says that the up to 50,000 by 2025, shortage will be most

as aviation recovers acute in North America UNICEF from the Covid-19 which has an ageing On 24 February, a UNICEF cargo flight, carrying 600,000 vaccines, touched pandemic. The firm pilot population, many down in Accra, Ghana, the first delivery of vaccines under a global vaccine-sharing says the pandemic is of whom have already scheme. The COVAX vaccines were flown in from Mumbai, India, using an Emirates a ‘momentary reprieve’ retired early. Boeing 777 airliner.

AIR TRANSPORT AEROSPACE Lufthansa reports worst ever loss Deliveries for regional Lufthansa airframers nosedive Turboprop manufacturer to deliver around ATR has revealed 20 aircraft this year. its delivery figures Meanwhile, Brazilian for 2020, with the aircraft manufacturer airframer handing over Embraer delivered 130 just ten aircraft due jets in 2020, down from to the effects of the 198 in 2019. The 2020 pandemic on air travel, deliveries comprised 44 with only one aircraft commercial aircraft, 56 German flag carrier Lufthansa has announced its worst-ever annual results, with an delivered in the first nine light jets and 30 large operating loss of €5.5bn for the full year due to the air travel shutdown caused by months. This compares business jets. It also the Covid-19 pandemic. The airline carried 76% fewer passengers in 2020 and is with 68 turboprops handed over the fourth currently burning through €300m a month. In light of this, Lufthansa CEO Carsten handed over in 2019. C-390 airlifter to the Spohr said that the airline’s A380s, currently grounded, will now not return to service. The company expects Brazilian AF in 2020.

NEWS IN BRIEF

stop taxpayers’ money phase, along with aligning parts, or assembling The UK government has being invested in high-risk BAE Systems has parallel development with satellites in orbit, would launched a new innovation projects. It is set to be revealed that the Tempest international partners, allow for larger, lighter and research agency, with operational in 2022. crewed fighter portion were the two priorities for antennas, without the a remit to pursue risky but of the UK’s FCAS future the programme this year. need to fold them up or high pay-off projects. The Hong Kong-based carrier combat systems is set to make them structurally £800m ARIA (Advanced Cathay Pacific has transition from the R&D Airbus Space has strong enough to survive a Research and Invention announced a record loss phase to the Concept announced that it has rocket launch. Agency) is patterned of $2.8bn for 2020 as a and Assessment phase won a two-year study after the US DARPA result of the pandemic. this summer. Talking to contract to investigate eVTOL start-up Joby organisation. Designed The airline had previously reporters ahead of the the feasibility of building Aviation has gone public to respond rapidly and reported a profit of $220m imminent approval of the satellites in LEO. The on the New York Stock empower scientists and in 2019. Due to the crisis, project’s outline business PERIOD (PERASPERA Exchange and merged inventors, ARIA will be it is also retiring 34 aircraft case, the programme’s In-Orbit Demonstration) with Reinvent Technology exempt from freedom early, while nearly 50% of BAE head, Michael project, it is envisaged, Partners, a special purpose of information laws and its fleet are now in long- Christie, said that the would lead to an orbital acquisition company, restrictions in place to term storage. transition to this next demonstrator. 3D printing (SPAC) – giving it access

6 AEROSPACE SPACEFLIGHT AEROSPACE China and Russia to team New Zealand start-up reveals HAPS up on Lunar base plans Kea Aerospace Russia has announced with the Chinese space that it will not continue its agency, CNSA, to build an current partnership on the ‘international lunar science International Space Station station’ on the surface or (ISS) with the US onto the in orbit around the Moon proposed NASA-led Lunar that would be operational Gateway space station – in the 2030s. Other nations which has already seen would also be invited to space agencies from Europe, join. Notably, Russia has not Canada and Japan agree to signed the US-sponsored Canterbury-based Kea Aerospace, a start-up from New Zealand, has revealed plans to co-operate on this project. Artemis Accords, which develop a solar-powered high-altitude psuedo-satellite (HAPS) drone which could stay Instead, Russia’s space outline guidelines for aloft for months at a time. The Kea Atmos would have a wingspan of 32m, a payload of agency, Roscosmos, has peaceful co-exploration and 10kg and be able to stay aloft for over 90 days at altitudes of 65,000ft. The HAPS UAV will signed an agreement exploitation of the Moon. be initially aimed at the aerial imaging sector.

DEFENCE AIR TRANSPORT Turkish Aerospace unveils electric Engines shed parts in flight unpiloted attack helicopter on same day TAI On 21 February on Netherlands. Meanwhile, different sides of the on the same day, a Atlantic, debris was United Airlines Boeing shed by two P&W 777 was forced to divert turbofans in two similar, back to Denver after an but apparently unrelated, engine failure of one incidents. In the first of its P&W4077s. The incident, parts from aircraft landed safely, a Longview Aviation with video taken by Boeing 747 freighter passengers showing the injured one woman entire cowling had come Turkish Aerospace has released the first photos of a new unpiloted six-ton attack on the ground after off, with the engine also helicopter, the T629 ATAK, it has rolled out. Details are scarce but the UAV is said to be falling from a PW4056 on fire. Initial examination electric or hybrid electric-powered and is based on the piloted twin-seat T129 attack engine during take-off has revealed that two fan helicopter, with the cockpit faired over and batteries where the crew would sit. from Maastricht, The blades had fractured.

to $1.6bn of funding. Aerospace. The (APD) tax as a way of Joby, which has now contribution of a certifiable stimulating demand in the New Zealand’s Rocket Diamond Aircraft has conducted 1,000 test battery for aerospace domestic air travel market Lab has announced that won an order from North flights with its passenger systems, along with and reinvigorating the it is to go public with a Carolina-based pilot eVTOL, says it intends to partner Baines Simmons, battered airline sector. merger with SPAC Vector training school Blue begin air taxi services in leverages Electroflight’s A consultation has been Acquisition Corp, making Line Aviation for 50 new 2024. Its five-seat eVTOL, experience working on launched. for a company worth aircraft. The order includes has a range of 150miles at electric racing aircraft, $4.1bn.The company will single engine DA40 NGs, 200mph. with its latest collaboration The first Taiwanese use this cash boost to twin engine DA42-VIs and being on the Rolls-Royce AIDC T-5 Yung Yin help develop Neutron, a a Diamond simulator, with Gloucester-based ACCEL electric aircraft, (Brave Eagle) advanced larger eight-ton launcher the option for 50 additional Electroflight is to develop set to fly later this year. jet trainer/light fighter than its current Electron aircraft. The flight school a high-energy battery is shortly to be handed vehicle, which will be is expanding with a new system for the all- The UK government over to the Republic of suitable for mega- 50,000sq ft $16m HQ at electric ES-19 airliner is reported to be China Air Force (RoCAF) constellations, beyond Johnston Regional Airport, under development considering cutting for operational testing LEO missions and will be expected to open later this from Sweden’s Heart the air passenger duty and evaluation. human-rated. year.

APRIL 2021 7 Radome

DEFENCE AIR TRANSPORT MAX orders begin to return USAF mulls ‘clean sheet’ Flair Airlines F-16 replacement The USAF has said that fifth-gen minus’ platform to it intends to study the replace 1970s-era F-16s potential for replacing and a more affordable its Lockheed Martin fighter than F-22 and F-16s with a new ‘clean F-35s. While new-build, sheet’ Generation 4.5 updated F-16s have or -5 multirole fighter. been proposed, Brown Revealed by the US Air said: “I want to be able to Boeing has announced it has won an order for 24 737 MAX 8s from a new customer, Force Chief of Staff, build something new and private investment group, 777 Partners. The deal also includes options on a further 60 of Gen Charles Brown, the different that’s not the F-16 the narrowbodies for 777’s unnamed ‘affiliated operating low-cost partners’ – believed to service is set to start a – that has some of those be Canadian budget airline, Flair Airlines (above with 737-800), of which 777 Partners study on its mix of fighters capabilities but gets there owns a 25% stake. Meanwhile, US airline United Airlines is to purchase 25 Boeing 737 which could include a faster and features a digital MAXs and accelerate deliveries of 45 existing MAX orders as it looks towards a rebound new ‘Four and a half or approach.” in air travel.

SPACEFLIGHT GENERAL AVIATION Developers plan luxury ‘space NetJets signs MoU for hotel’ by 2030 supersonic bizjets A space construction company Global business aviation would provide supersonic has revealed ambitious plans operator NetJets, along flight training. Meanwhile, to build the world’s first luxury with its sister company Aerion is partnering ‘space hotel’ in LEO. The FlightSafety International, with NASA’s Langley Gateway Foundation says has signed an MoU with Research Center to study construction of its Voyager Aerion for the rights technology to support the Station would begin in 2026, to acquire 20 of its development of Mach 3-5 with the hotel expected to supersonic AS2 bizjets. passenger aircraft. The open to tourists by 2030. A The deal brings Aerion’s research includes a range ring-shaped space station, backlog for its Mach 1.4 of propulsion systems, it would have capacity for SSBJs to $10bn, with thermal management 280 guests and 112 crew, NetJets becoming the technologies, integrated and would rotate to provide exclusive operator for power systems and cabin

Gateway Foundation artificial gravity. Aerion Connect, while FSI technology. NEWS IN BRIEF

range narrowbody yet the first export customer exploded 8mins later announced a partnership Boeing has submitted from Airbus and is set to for the US-built Sikorsky after a high-altitude flight to bid for the UK technical comments enter service in 2023. CH-53K King Stallion, test on 3 March, in Boca Maritime & Coastguard to regulators for the heavy-lift helicopter which Chica, Texas. The vehicle Agency’s (MCA) Second installation of central fuel Dutch flag carrier KLM will replace its existing was seen to land heavily Generation Search and tanks for Airbus’ latest has taken delivery of its CH-53D fleet. The IAF but safely in one piece on Rescue (UKSAR2G) A321XLR, alleging that first Embraer E195 E2 currently operates 22 its landing legs but then service. The current SAR the location presents regional aircraft. The E195 of the ageing CH-53D a fire developed near its contract is operated by an increased fire risk. E2, acquired via ICBC models and will replace base and the rocket then Bristow Group and set to The submission to EASA Leasing, will be used by these with between 20-25 exploded at the 8mins run until 2026. says that: “The location KLM’s Cityhopper arm, of the latest CH-53K mark. The flight was of such an integral where it brings the total variants, which are also the third in a series of Rolls-Royce is to fuel tank immediately number of Embraer jets set to enter service with trials to demonstrate the collaborate with Italian aft of the main landing up to 50. KLM has leasing the US Marine Corps. high-altitude flip re-entry airframer Tecnam and gear presents the most options for 25 E2s. manoeuvre. Norwegian regional extensive range of threats SpaceX’s latest Starship airline Widerøe to to be considered.” The The Israeli MoD has prototype SN10 Airbus Helicopters and develop an all-electric A321XLR, is the longest announced it is to become successfully landed, then Draken Europe have nine-passenger

8 AEROSPACE Dassault Aviation GENERAL AVIATION AEROSPACE Ukraine to nationalise Motor Sich Ukraine’s National Security drawn disapproval from and Defense Council Washington, with the US has announced it will State Department placing nationalise helicopter the company on a blacklist and aircraft engine maker in January 2021. Motor Motor Sich and take it Sich has already assisted into public ownership to China in producing the avoid a Chinese corporate AL-222-25F jet engine Falcon 6X makes maiden flight takeover attempt. China’s for the Hongdu L-15 Skyrizon is a majority advanced trainer and the Dassault Aviation’s new Falcon 6X business jet has made its first flight from the shareholder in Motor D-30-KP for the Xian company’s Mérignac plant on 10 March. The one-hour 30min flight tested aircraft Sich but long-standing H-6 bombers, as well handling, engines and aircraft systems. Two more Falcon 6X aircraft are scheduled to attempts to take over the as smaller turbojets for join the test fleet and begin flight tests soon. rest of the company have missiles. MoD DEFENCE AIR TRANSPORT UK publishes Airliner leasing mega Integrated Review merger General Electric has aircaft on their books or announced a $30bn 18% of the global leasing deal to sell its GE market. GE is reported Capital Aviation Services to be making the deal as (GECAS) aircraft leasing a result of troubles with business to Irish lessor its GE Capital financial AerCap which already division which has already The UK has published its long-awaited Integrated Review of Security, Defence, operates International sold off a number of Development and Foreign Policy, setting out its ambitions for the UK to become a Lease Finance other business interests science and technology superpower, while modernising forces for 21st Century threats. Corporation (ILFC). The to focus on its industrial While FCAS/Tempest will receive £2bn over the next four years and defence R&D will two companies are the sectors of power, aviation see £6.6bn injected in the same period, there will be early retirements for RAF aircraft, world’s biggest airliner and healthcare. The deal including 24 Tranche 1 Typhoons by 2025, 14 C-130Js by 2023, four BAe 146s, 36 leasing concerns, with a awaits shareholder and Hawk T1s by 2025, as well as Sentinel R1 and E-3D Sentry fleets to be withdrawn this combined fleet of 2,098 regulatory approval, year.

commuter aircraft, the Correction P-Volt. The P-Volt, based In the March edition of ON THE MOVE on the P2012 Traveller, AEROSPACE, in the feature Emma Gilthorpe is the will help Norway achieve ‘Blade Runners for 2040+ Former Airbus CEO AVM Ian Gale RAF is to be new CEO of the UK’s Jet it was incorrectly stated that its goal of making all Tom Enders and Airbus promoted Air Marshal and Zero Council. the Airbus Head of Product domestic flights zero- Policy and Strategy was ex-commercial sales chief become Director General, emission by 2040. Jerome Coombe. It should John Leahy have joined Joint Force Development in Alan Warnes is the Group have been Jerome Combe. the advisory panel of start- UK Strategic Command. Editor Modern Military at UK airlines reported up Universal Hydrogen, Key Publishing. We apologise for any a surge on flight and confusion caused. headed by ex-Airbus CTO Rajeev Suri is the new holiday bookings after the Paul Eremenko. CEO of Inmarsat. Juan Carlos Salazar of government announced a bookings had risen 600% Columbia has been named potential phased plan to on the news that travel New interim Chief Ed Clark is to take over as the new Secretary exit lockdown and restart may restart from mid-May. Executive of ADS Group from Walt Odisho as VP General of the International international travel. Other holiday and airline is Kevin Craven, taking and General Manager Civil Aviation Organization EasyJet said flight firms, such as TUI and over from Paul Everitt who of the Boeing 737 (ICAO), beginning 1 bookings had jumped Jet2 reported similar stepped down at the end programme. August. He succeeds Dr 300%, while holiday surges. of March. Fang Liu of China.

APRIL 2021 9 By the Numbers Understanding the world of Aerospace through data

The UK Integrated Review – air power

C-130J to be retired Tranche 1 Typhoons 14 0 (2023) retired in 2025 24 0 (2025) X X Modernisation of Puma fleet £2bn Investment in 14 additional extended range in 2023-25 with new medium FCAS/Tempest Chinooks to be procured, helicopter retiring 9 of older models 2BN

BAe 146 fleet (32Sqn) £6.6bn investment on 3 x E-3D Sentry fleet retired by 2022 defence R&D retired this year

6.6BN

X X 36 Hawk T1s (excluding T1A E-7 Wedgetail fleet Red Arrows) retired by 2025 capped at 3 from 5

X X X

10 AEROSPACE Pushing the Envelope Exploring advances on the leading edge of aerospace Robert Coppinger Europe wrestles with rocket reusability

ircraft-like operations for space launches aerospace agency, Office National d’Etudes et de could be key to effectively replenish Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA), Hyperstar mega-constellations’ failed satellites. would launch horizontally from the French space The UK spaceplane, Skylon, and its agency, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales’ (CNES) air-breathing SABRE rocket engine spaceport in French Guiana. ONERA said that it haveA been the subject of recent market and technology used Reaction Engine’s SABRE data in its Hyperstar studies. This year, an engineering test model of SABRE’s calculations. The Hyperstar studies have only been air-breathing core will be demonstrated in ground tests, conceptual, Reaction Engines said, not detailed not a flight weight model. In February, Reaction Engines engineering projects. Skylon was designed for 15t announced that it had completed its test programmes satellites at a time when large telecommunications for two important SABRE subsystems: the HX3 heat spacecraft were a key customer for space launch. exchanger and the engine pre-burner. SABRE stands Hyperstar has the same capacity but the customer for synergetic air-breathing rocket engine and, while is expected to be an operator wanting to send a Skylon was a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) concept number of smaller satellites as the trend towards with a 15t payload capacity, the recent intra-European miniaturisation has finally come to satellites. In a investigations have focused on a two-stage-to-orbit CNES/ONERA/Reaction Engines’ paper submitted (TSTO) approach. to the European Conference for Aeronautics and Skylon was the brainchild of UK propulsion company Aerospace Sciences, held in 2019, Hyperstar was Reaction Engines, whose founder, Alan Bond, and his deemed a viable concept. team, also designed the SABRE engine. Skylon would use its engine’s air-breathing capability to carry less The launch market fuel than a conventional rocket, which needs to keep on board all of its propellant, giving it that SSTO ability. The most recent Hyperstar/SABRE study was SABRE has a supersonic air intake that captures and completed in December last year. Carried out by slows the incoming airflow which means it can operate ESA and Reaction Engines, it examined a TSTO for beyond Mach 5 before having to change to rocket the launch market in the 2030s. Further studies mode. While in air-breathing mode, the engine intake’s are expected, including by ONERA. For the 2020s, pre-cooler cools in a fraction of a second that incoming Europe’s next expendable launcher, Ariane 6, will air, whose 1,000°C temperature would otherwise melt serve the satellite market. Its first flight is planned for the engine’s interior. This heat absorption allows SABRE the second quarter of 2022. ONERA views Hyperstar to operate at higher speeds than existing propulsion as ‘too innovative’ to be able to be compared with SABRE HAS A systems and the heat absorbed by the pre-cooler Ariane 6 and sees SABRE as the biggest technical SUPERSONIC is recycled to help power the engine, reducing fuel challenge for the spaceplane. However, while all these consumption. studies have been ongoing, SpaceX has already AIR INTAKE shown the viability of vertical launch with reusable first THAT CAPTURES Hyperstar stages and it is now working on its Saturn V scale AND SLOWS reusable Starship rocket. THE INCOMING The European TSTO concept, known as Hyperstar, Reaction Engines’ Business Development and AIRFLOW WHICH uses SABRE in the same way but would launch Strategy Executive, Oliver Nailard, sees Starship MEANS IT CAN a second stage from its payload bay. Since 2017, and its huge 100t plus payload capacity as good for OPERATE BEYOND SABRE-powered TSTO concepts have been initially deploying a mega-constellation but overkill for examined by the European Space Agency (ESA) and replenishing it, leaving a niche for SABRE-powered MACH 5 BEFORE the UK and French space and aerospace research spaceplanes. ESA, meanwhile is also developing HAVING TO agencies, along with European launch provider reusable rocket technology, namely its Themis CHANGE TO Arianespace. Under the studies with the French reusable methane-fuelled first stage. ROCKET MODE

APRIL 2021 11 .t

Transmission

LETTERS AND ONLINE @aerosociety i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com

Integrated Propeller Plane design critique

I was pleased to see my Conseil et Technique bending loads as there is comments on the Hybrid- no alleviation from the fuel Electric Trijet published weight. in the March issue of (ii) Increased undercarriage AEROSPACE(1). However, and fuselage landing loads, I was surprised to see a including spin-up and spring- similar proposal for the back, as the landing weight Integrated Propeller Plane will be the same as the (IP2) on pages 4-5(2) which MTOW of 75,000kg (there will have some of the same is no change in mass from issues, especially the very a chemical reaction, i.e. the tall undercarriage and battery weight is constant at rear ‘propulsor’, for which 20,000kg). the following points need (iii) The underfloor batteries consideration: will require, heavy fire and - The rear propulsor, even with French engineering and design consultancy Conseil et Technique’s concept for the Integrated fume protection, plus a contra-rotating fans, must Propeller Plane (IP2) electric-powered zero-emissions airliner. cooling system. As the weight surely be considered as a of a battery-powered aircraft single engine which clearly does not reduce in flight it will not meet certification to the fuselage is not clear 3metres,. The centrifugal the uncontained fan blade will be restricted to the lower, requirements, as the but appears to be at three forces and bearing/roller trajectory does not pass bumpy and less efficient, flight fragments from a failed fan points, the tail bumper and velocity will be exceedingly through the cockpit area. levels for the flight duration. rotor will take out the second forward empennage, which is high. Removing 20,000kg of fuel, rotor. structurally inadequate for the - Fuselages are not reinforced mainly from the wing, and As with the Hybrid-Electric - Uncontained fragments from nacelle and the aft attachment for uncontained fan blade replacing it with 20,000kg of Trijet, the forward section failed rotor blade(s) could of the empennage. failure, so there is no batteries in the fuselage will looks quite good. severely damage, or remove, - The rotors and electric weight saving for the rear result in a tremendous weight the empennage. motors seem to be rotating on mounting of the propulsor. penalty due to: Peter Gambardella - The nacelle attachment a very large diameter, possibly The requirement is that (i) Increased wing shear/ MRAeS

. Farnborough wind tunnels UK airline pilots left in lurch after Brexit Wambampram/Wikipedia I was most interested to The government’s decision to and pilots for many years a European licence. With read the Winds of Change leave the EASA partnership since the decision to leave the prospects of growth article in the March edition has, and will have, a huge the EU was confirmed; the and activity in UK airlines of AEROSPACE(3), in which impact on the recovery of UK CAA were unable to looking gloomy, it appears the Brian Riddle gave us an our already fragile industry provide any clear information government has done little excellent review of the early for many years to come. As about what lay ahead, as more than create a huge pool part of the 150 year history of a UK CAA APTL holder, nothing had been decided of professional pilots that are wind tunnels around the world. this concerns me greatly. or agreed. This led to many now a burden on the state, Your readers may like to know We have seen the past year airlines spurning UK Licences not to mention the many that, through the efforts of the have huge implications and in favour of safer EASA trainee pilots in UK ATOs Farnborough Air Sciences consequences for airlines, options. A great many of my on the brink of obtaining Trust (FAST), the 24ft wind aerospace engineers and colleagues and I optimistically an equally restricting (and professional pilots alike. held onto our UK licences in tremendously expensive) tunnel in Building Q 121 at The main wind turbine fan in Membership of EASA does the hope that an agreement qualification. I wonder how Farnborough, which opened in Farnborough building Q121. 1935 and was in full-time use not require membership with would be reached. Right the government plans to before the Christmas closure, up to 1996, is now preserved recent years and are expected the EU, as demonstrated by steer the country through the and after many of the transfer as a Grade One listed building. to restart after 17 May when Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein stormy conditions ahead for deadlines had passed, it was Similarly, the later Supersonic the government lockdown and Switzerland, so why has the aviation industry? Will we confirmed that the UK would and Transonic wind tunnels restrictions are lifted. our membership to EASA see more of the industry’s big leave EASA: a significant in Building R 133 have also Bookings can then be made been stripped as part of the UK players, such as Airbus, implication, that meant many been listed as Grade One, by visiting the FAST website at Brexit deal? What has the easyJet, Rolls-Royce, IAG, thousands of UK licences while the tunnel in Building R www.airsciences.org.uk government (and importantly etc, move operations onto the 52 has been listed as Grade the aviation industry in Britain) would be worthless within continent? Is this all worth it the EU overnight. The only Two. Guided visits to these Sir Donald Spiers gained? The lack of clarity on for a blue passport? option on the table now is tunnels have been possible in HonFRAeS the matter has been a key issue of concern for airlines to apply from scratch for N N Patel

12 AEROSPACE .t

.Aviation success story Appeal for Vulcan museum Naveed Kapadia Nigel Rosendale Great VTST article. I feel like I’ve just read about me in this. The single Comanche was a magnificent aircraft for its time. But trying i to sync in the props on full go, the twin makes some beautiful noise on take-off. History of wind tunnels

Alex Liberson [On History Naveed Kapadia Was a of wind tunnels(3)] Interesting while back... I think it was a but a little lacking in detail, Stephen Fontinelle [On Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche no mention of Bristol’s wind Naveed Kapadia Careers in B , at EGTK - Oxford. Thank tunnel history from 1919 to Aerospace blog on how to you Royal Aeronautical The Vulcan to the Sky Trust (VTST) has launched a £4m the present day. succeed as a business leader Society for featuring me. appeal to enable it to build a hangar at Doncaster Sheffield (6) in the aviation sector ] Love There are some amazing Airport which will be used to exhibit the preserved Vulcan this... well done buddy. colleagues and career case bomber XH558. To be called The Vulcan Experience, the Doug Greenwell It would be studies on the website hangar will also incorporate the Green Technology Hub, nice to have a decent history and plenty of examples of designed to inspire young people to become the engineers of UK wind tunnels. NASA Martin Robinson Glad to resilience in the face of who will devise the technical solutions to the global climate has put a lot of effort over see you in a cockpit! Looks adversity. The team has done challenge. For more details see https://vulcantothesky.org/ the years into documenting like a twin com. a remarkable job. Thank you. executive-alliance/ its tunnel stories, eg NASA SP-440, but the only book in RAeS lectures online the UK of similar scope (that I know of) is Mike Dobson’s From the RAeS photo archives @Nickel23Matt There is

‘Wind Beneath the Wings’ on RAeS/NAL some amazingly good content the RAE Bedford tunnels. being put online and freely available. I think the bar has Chinese drone tests On 13 March the RAeS been set for the future!

CAAC Pakistan Division held an online ‘aviation school’ outreach/ STEM session via Zoom. @jonititan I really hope these are all going on YouTube afterwards as I now count three @AeroSociety branch lectures happening at the same time today. In December 2007, Drone DJ reported that the Civil Aviation Administration of China had Drone threat to aircraft conducted collision tests in Close-up of the cylinders making up a Bristol Taurus exaggerated? which a cockpit mock-up was 14-cylinder, two-row radial engine of around 1,100hp. Its Parachute update launched at a stationary drone. sleeve valve design gave it an uncluttered exterior, low @AviationVincent [On @al_brock I wonder if mechanical noise, relatively low weight and compactness. drone vs aircraft impact tests(4)] Sweyn Alsopout [On anyone is offering a lecture (4) Due to its protracted development and reliability problems, Most UTM operations are drone collision tests ] Higher on current parachute engine deliveries did not start until just before WW2 and below 400 feet so maybe this fidelity and perhaps more technologies? Any recent it was only used in two production aircraft, the Fairey is overestimating the risks representative tests were Heinrich course graduates or (5) Albacore and Bristol Beaufort, both torpedo bombers. somewhat. The ‘?’ is indeed a ? done a while ago in China . lecturers?

1. AEROSPACE, March 2021, p 12, Transmission 2. AEROSPACE, March 2021, p 4, Blueprint 3. AEROSPACE, March 2021, p 14, Winds of change 4. https://www.aerosociety.com/news/fatal-impact/ 5. https://dronedj.com/2017/12/29/chinese-test-drone-airplane-collision/ 6. https://www.careersinaerospace.com/aero-stories/naveed-kapadia-founder-managing-director-of-inquisitif-an-aviation-business-management-consultancy/ 7. https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/IgxJ1ZNYeNMCyWnF5_gk4E4ffbecCshuidQC1pn1s6ENDydmauveH1DZ-7JwQfaGJprgOXgpQ8IEOIxp.lfmHzGkD_ sPNuq5R?autoplay=true

@aerosociety i linkedin.com/raes f facebook.com/raes www.aerosociety.com APRIL 2021 13 AIR TRANSPORT Pilot training reset British Airways

Airline pilot training Time to revisit the basics? Captain JOHN LEAHY and Captain ROBERT SCOTT from the RAeS Flight Operations Group, argue that the Covid-19 pause in air transport provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset airline pilot training to better meet the challenges of more automated aircraft and skill fade.

any recent airline accidents have with less flight time on real aircraft, less exposure shown clear evidence of a common to the resultant stress of actual flight and much of cause, whether from fatal crashes it, computer-based. Simulator time is reduced in or devastating hull losses without many cases to the minimum required to achieve fatalities. That common cause is the certification requirements. Among the drivers for these Minability of the pilots, in far too many cases, to cope reductions have been better automation and more with the situation they have faced. Sometimes it was reliable warning systems, resulting in aircraft that are when the automatic systems failed, requiring them to considered to be easier to fly. Currently, pilot training is fly manually. In others, they were trying to deal with a combination of mastery of basic handling skills and what should have been a relatively benign situation the ability to manage complex automated systems, and they simply did not cope. with an increasing emphasis on the latter. Thus, Members of the Flight Operations Group (FOG) although management of automation has improved, of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) have less and less time is now spent on developing and been studying these matters for some time but maintaining the basic skills that are so necessary individually, rather than as a group, with a common when automation fails or causes confusion. purpose. The members came together recently to This article is intended to bring to the attention of discuss the reintroduction of the 737 MAX and pilots, regulators, airline executives, flight operations what sort of training would be needed to achieve the managers, ab initio training schools and safety best outcome. It very quickly became apparent that management teams that, in our view, change is concerns about training standards on the 737 MAX needed and needed now. ICAO has set a target of were not restricted to that aircraft alone. It was obvious 2030 to achieve zero fatalities. That was reached for that there is a need to review the way that pilots are jet-powered commercial aircraft in 2017 but, since trained to fly all types of public transport aircraft. then, the accident rate has increased again, with loss Pilot training has changed greatly, particularly of control being a frequent cause. It seems clear from in the last two decades. It is shorter in duration, accident and incident reports that some pilots are not

14 AEROSPACE being trained to a sufficiently high standard to manage Of particular concern was the fact that a high their aircraft in anything much more than routine percentage of the few accidents that were occurring circumstances. Even the slightest deviations from the fell into one category, Loss of Control in Flight (LOC-I). norm have resulted in aircraft accidents that should Nothing to do with extraordinary and demanding have been totally avoidable. circumstances but instead the pilots’ failure to Of major concern is the fact that ‘loss of control cope with the most fundamental activity, that of in flight’ has been the number one cause of fatalities being capable of using the aircraft flight controls to in aircraft accidents for many years, yet the training manage the flight path of the aircraft. Although the required to address this most fundamental pilot activity actual loss of control was sometimes triggered by is obviously not being carried out to the extent that it external factors, such as adverse weather, it was often should. A strong safety culture with an emphasis on compounded by human factors, such as poor decision- pilot performance excellence must be supported at making, technology mode confusion, poor manual the highest level in any airline, whatever the perceived handling skills and inadequate communications financial costs. between the pilots. In almost all cases, LOC-I resulted Due to the Covid pause that has hit in a non-survivable accident. the airline industry so hard, there is time This situation still prevails, so it is available to do something before aviation appropriate to ask the question, ‘How recovers to 2019 levels which is forecast is the risk evaluated and thus the to take three or more years. We view this amount of training which is considered as a great opportunity to start making the appropriate?’ It would appear that, improvements that are so necessary in A STRONG in some airlines, the industry’s low the field of airline pilot training. accident rate equates to a low risk and This article addresses what appear SAFETY thus any training that extends beyond to be significant shortcomings in the CULTURE WITH satisfying regulatory requirements and way that some airline pilots are trained AN EMPHASIS the recommendations of the original today. However, it also acknowledges ON PILOT equipment manufacturer (OEM) is an the significant contribution to aviation unnecessary expense. This completely safety that is made by so many within the PERFORMANCE overlooks the fact that the decision may aviation industry on a daily basis. EXCELLENCE then restrict the knowledge and skills of MUST BE the pilots concerned to a narrow range A history of LOC-I and make it extremely difficult for them SUPPORTED AT to cope with unforeseen events. Commercial aviation safety has shown THE HIGHEST On the other hand, it should be a massive and welcome improvement LEVEL IN noted that there have been a significant since the 50s and 60s when aircraft ANY AIRLINE, number of serious incidents over accidents were more frequent. The the years that were only prevented industry has always endeavoured to learn WHATEVER THE from becoming tragic accidents by from the causes of every accident and PERCEIVED the successful actions of the pilots, to implement solutions. 2017 saw no FINANCIAL who demonstrated competence fatalities worldwide on large commercial COSTS and professionalism that could only aircraft. Compared with 20 years earlier, have been the product of sound when 2,500 fatalities per annum were training where basic handling skills commonplace, this is commendable. It might have were considered to be a fundamental requirement been thought that we had reached a state of near to operating an aircraft, regardless of its technical perfection in aviation safety. Advances in technology sophistication. In these instances, the pilots were appeared to be making up for shortcomings in pilots’ faced with extraordinary challenges, yet succeeded in abilities. The new training model, whereby advances mitigating the outcomes. in technology enabled much-reduced pilot training programmes – a significant selling point for aircraft Some landmark examples are shown below: manufacturers and eagerly embraced by airlines – ● Boeing 747-200 – Near Jakarta – June 1982 – seemed to be working. Four engine flameout due to volcanic ash; However, some aviation safety professionals were concerned that this apparent improvement in ● McDonnell Douglas DC10 – Sioux City – July flight safety may be concealing a disturbing trend. 1989 – Uncontained tail-mounted engine failure Serious incidents were still occurring, some of which and multiple systems failures; were only prevented from becoming fatal accidents ● Airbus A320 – Hudson River, New York – January by happenstance and a measure of luck. However, 2009 – Bird strike and subsequent ditching; because the incidents did not result in fatalities, they ● Airbus A380 – Singapore – November 2010 – were not widely reported and nor did they affect the Uncontained engine failure and multiple systems accident statistics. failure.

APRIL 2021 15 AIR TRANSPORT Pilot training reset

A wide disparity in standards of regulatory approval, that their regulators are competent and would never permit standards to fall Why is it that some airlines have an excellent safety below a safe level. In most cases that is true but, record over many decades while others do not? It is to believe that standards are universal is incorrect the view of the group that this is not just a matter of because we know from experience that they are IN THIS MODERN luck. It is abundantly clear, from our many years of not homogeneous across all borders and nor are working in the industry, that some airlines set a high regulatory authorities infallible. AGE THERE standard that far exceeds the minimum required by Indeed, even the FAA has been castigated REALLY IS NO the regulations. This may include such measures publicly in the US by a Congressional Enquiry and EXCUSE FOR as only recruiting superior candidates from the best one can conclude that if the FAA can be found FAILING TO training colleges and training them to the highest wanting, others may too. The Final Committee standards, not only at the entry stage but on an Report: BOEING 737 MAX by Congress in October TRAIN PILOTS ongoing basis during their time with the airline. Yes, 2020 stated in its conclusion: ‘Traditionally, the FAA PROPERLY the cost is higher but, to coin an old phrase: ‘If you has been the primary leader of the world’s civilian think training is expensive, try having an accident’! aviation authorities, but questions raised about the At the other end of the scale, some operators FAA’s role in the 737 MAX crisis have punctured its struggle to even reach the bar set by the regulators, reputation as the gold standard in aviation safety and exemplified by the number of airlines that are unable international civil aviation authorities.’ to satisfy the accepted standards and end up on The FOG is concerned about the wide disparity the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or the in safety standards of airlines, and of their pilots, European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) together with a similar disparity in regulators banned airline list. and regulatory oversight. Alignment of training The situation is complicated by the fact that there methodology on a global scale will lead to better are different training methods in use globally and exchanges of ideas and understanding of each there is not universal agreement on which ones are other’s operational challenges and an overall increase better than others. In some cases, culture influences in operating standards. the decisions on which ones to use, while in others the decision can be financial or even based on the The decline of essential skills recommendations of regulators or OEMs. Tools, such as AQP, CBTA, MPL and EBT are popular in Forty years ago, technology was changing at a the industry, though have gained different traction fast rate, which resulted in accidents due to a poor in different operating environments. There is no understanding of that technology. Over time, a shortage of good ideas plus a genuine desire on focus on managing the technical capabilities of the the part of many to train to the highest standards, aircraft assumed greater emphasis than teaching yet some airlines stick to training to the minimum the traditional basic handling skills. This was a major standards commensurate with incurring the least change in the demands placed on pilots but made costs. good use of the new efficiencies of modern aircraft. There is a view held by many, including board However, we would argue this left us with a deficit members of some airlines, that what keeps the world of basic skills which should be the foundation stone of aviation safe is a robust and uniform international on which other skills are built, those that lie dormant system of regulation. If that is satisfied, they believe, most of the time but assume immense importance their airlines can operate safely under that umbrella when the technology fails and the pilots need to CAE

CAE pilot training simulators.

16 AEROSPACE deal with an aircraft that is exhibiting unfamiliar and outside the control of the management team, so the challenging handling characteristics. focus can move to other areas, including pilot training. In the event of an aircraft accident, it is sometimes Unless senior management prioritise the need for tempting to attribute the cause to some failure of the the highest standards of training, it may be tempting pilots to perform to the standard expected of them. to make cuts to the training budget. This may be This may shroud other factors behind the events done on the basis that ‘improvements’ in automation, which led to the accident. As the complexity of the simulation and smarter training techniques permit this operating environment increases, the demands to be done without compromising safety. This group placed on the pilots also increases. While automation challenges that notion. This reduction in training does has relieved pilots of many routine handling tasks, not encourage the development and maintenance of essential skills have declined through lack of practice the skills and knowledge that are essential to safely and may not be present when needed, such as when and competently operate today’s complex aircraft, workload increases dramatically. Typically, this can something that is borne out by those accident reports occur when pilots are distracted by events, particularly that cite lack of pilot ability as a major causal factor. those known to exhibit ‘startle’ characteristics. Unless Good training may be more expensive but it the pilots have a solid foundation of should be viewed as an essential training that enables them to easily investment in safety. The loss of an control the aircraft while they deal with aircraft, passengers and crew is not only any abnormalities that are occurring, a financial loss but a dreadful human the outcome will be compromised. tragedy, especially when the accident Unfortunately, accident reports indicate was avoidable. Aircraft manufacturers that, in far too many instances, the pilots FLYING IS NOT have developed amazing aircraft over the struggle to identify the problem and years, that contribute enormously to the decide on the correct course of action, INHERENTLY safety and financial success of the airline all while trying to control an aircraft in DANGEROUS, industry. However, this has resulted in circumstances that are totally different BUT TO AN a situation where, as the complexity of to the ones they have become used to in aircraft and their operating environment regular training sessions. EVEN GREATER have increased, arguably the quality of EXTENT THAN training has decreased. The automation The consequences THE SEA, IT that is meant to ease the challenges IS TERRIBLY of operating complex aircraft has to be The current accident rate is relatively matched by pilot competency which is low compared to the past and it could UNFORGIVING lacking at times. be assumed that all is well in the OF THE LEAST In this modern age there really is no industry. However, it is not the number ERROR excuse for failing to train pilots properly. of accidents that is at issue here; it is The standards are clearly established the fact that so many of them were FAA and adhered to by the more responsible avoidable, had the pilots used basic Human Error airlines who recognise that a poorly skills to recover from the situations they in commercial trained pilot has the potential to be an found themselves in. The lack of these aviation accidents: enormous liability. Pilots do not set out skills raises the question – were the DOT/FAA/AM- to cause accidents and are often the skills ever in place or is this evidence of 06/18 victims themselves of management skill fade, due to an over-reliance on the decisions to shortcut recruitment and automatics? training methods. In this technology- There are undoubtedly some excellent flying driven and innovative age, there are many ways to training schools that deliver first rate graduates. control the high costs of pilot training. Part-task However, some pilots can undergo inadequate ab training devices, and other proven tools, provided in initio training courses with the emphasis on getting an efficient training environment, can go a long way them through quickly and as inexpensively as possible. towards consolidating a pilot’s knowledge and skills. Thus, they start their careers poorly prepared for the The aim is not necessarily more training but better challenges of converting on to larger, more complex training. aircraft in an airline setting which, in turn, is often Training methods vary and different airlines may carried out in accordance with a significantly reduced jealously guard their preferred ways of achieving the airline training model. Unless these pilots can enjoy required standards. The FOG does not mandate any rigorous training within the airline they have joined, particular training methods but merely wishes to see they will remain at a severe disadvantage as far as all airlines strive to achieve an equal and universal skills and knowledge are concerned. standard of excellence that ensures the highest All airlines operate in a very challenging financial standards of pilot competency. environment. There is always pressure to reduce This, and only this, will stop the needless loss of costs. Fuel costs and engineering costs are largely lives and aircraft.

APRIL 2021 17 DEFENCE Aero India Show report Atul Chandra Aero India Aero Aero India Aero Soaring aspirations ATUL CHANDRA reports from India’s biggest airshow and aerospace exhibition, Aero India 2021, held on 3-5 February at IAF Air Force Station, Yelahanka, Bengaluru, which saw new fighters and ‘Loyal Wingmen’ showcased. ndia’s burgeoning indigenous military aviation Aero India signalled the end of the Tejas LCA’s portfolio was the highlight of the 13th Aero torturous development saga with a Rs480bn order India, held in February, and showcased the for 83 Tejas Mk-1A fighter jets (73 single seat and tremendous strides made by its indigenous 10 twin seat). Deliveries to the Indian Air Force (IAF) aerospace industry since 1996, when the first are to begin in 2024 and will likely be completed by Iairshow was held. India’s economic rise over the last 2030. HAL had earlier received orders for 40 Tejas 25 years, coupled with an unwavering desire towards Mk-1 aircraft. The new Tejas Mk-1A aircraft feature an indigenous military aviation capability, is now beginning Israeli Elta AESA radar, in-flight refuelling capability, to yield results. Aero India also showcased India’s ASRAAM close combat missiles and the Israeli Derby burgeoning start-up culture, now increasingly evident BVRAAM, along with numerous other improvements. in the aerospace sector. While many of the concepts “One of the major strengths of Tejas is its FBW and offerings from these companies appear promising, system. It is wonderfully designed and the rates that it regular funding and timely conclusion of projects, an generates are extremely crisp and as per the demands anathema in Indian defence procurement, could test put forth by the pilot. It provides the pilot with complete their resolve. control and the ability to exploit the aircraft in its entire India presently has four fighter programmes flight regime,” says Group Captain Samrath Dhankhar, under way in the light combat aircraft (LCA) ‘Tejas’ former CO of 45 Squadron which operates Tejas Mk-1A, LCA AF Mk-2 medium weight fighter, 4.5 gen Mk-1s. advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA) and newly revealed twin engine deck based fighter (TEDBF). Future fighter trio State-owned airframer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is also completing development of the The enormous costs of developing modern fighter Hindustan Turbo Trainer 40 (HTT-40) basic trainer and aircraft do not appear to have swayed Indian has revived the moribund Hindustan Jet Trainer 36 ambitions and strong government backing means (HJT-36) ‘Sitara’ intermediate jet trainer (IJT). Apart that despite pandemic related budget constraints, from this, it is completing development of the light funding is secure. The most ambitious of the trio under utility helicopter (LUH), light combat helicopter (LCH) development is the advanced medium combat aircraft and has just commenced work on the 10t indian (AMCA) for the IAF, which is being designed for stealth multirole helicopter (IMRH). and features an internal weapons bay.

18 AEROSPACE Atul Chandra advanced short-range air to-air-missile (ASRAAM) is among the air-to-air missiles carried by CATS Warrior, which will be powered by a modernised version of the homegrown PTAE-7 that is used on indigenous Lakshya target drones. HAL is developing a multi-purpose explosive carrier system called Hunter, which will also use the PTAE-7. Another being developed are swarming drone systems called air-launched flexible assets (ALFA). These will be carried aboard a glider and a single ALFA will carry a payload of individual drones weighing 25kg with a warhead of 5kg. High altitude long endurance (HALE) UAVs are also planned to be integrated as part of the CATS programme.

Collective success

Meanwhile, HAL’s Rotary Wing Division has largely completed design and development of the 5.8t LCH and 3t LUH. The first limited series production (LSP) LCH for the IAF was displayed at Aero India. Hindustan Aeronautics started production without a While the Navy had expressed a requirement for Clockwise from far formal order from the army or air force but has now a carrier-borne variant of the AMCA, it was ultimately left: Twin Engine Deck received a letter of lntent (LoI) for five helicopters decided to proceed with a more conventional and less Based Fighter (TEDBF); each. Orders are expected for more than 160 LCHs. stealthy configuration without an internal weapons inaugural ceremony of Aero HAL is also awaiting orders for an initial batch India 2021 in February bay. The Navy TEDBF is slated to make its first flight 2021; HAL’s CATS Loyal of 12 LSP LUHs, with the total requirement of 187 in 2026, a timeline that certainly appears ambitious, Wingman concept was the across the army and air force. The LUH will be built if not impossible. There is expected to be a high level star of the show; inaugural at a brand-new helicopter factory being constructed of commonality between both the 25t AMCA and the ceremony rotorcraft flying at Tumakuru, near Bengaluru. Rollout of the first 26t TEDBF. display. helicopter from the new facility is planned in August Also under development is the 18t class Tejas 2022. The 10t IMRH programme is being undertaken Mk-2, which is planned to replace the IAF’s SEPECAT by HAL to meet an air force requirement to replace its Jaguar, MiG-29 and Mirage 2000 fleets. First flight Mi-17s in the 2030s. For the IMRH programme, the for the LCA AF Mk-2 is slated for December 2023. army and air force are to issue a Joint Service Quality Development of all three types is helmed by the Requirement (JSQR) by April. Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), with Hindustan Aeronautics as the production agency. Stealth UAV demonstrator Unmanned highlight Indian efforts at developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) under the aegis of the Defence HAL’s ambitious Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was literally a showstopper, with the giant display have yet to bear fruit. The Aeronautical Development featuring the bottom half of an almost to scale Tejas Establishment (ADE), which is tasked with aircraft, tethered from the ceiling and outfitted with development of indigenous drones for the Indian an array of missiles and drone based weaponry. The military, showed off a mock-up of its stealth wing role of CATS Mothership for Air Teaming eXploitation flying testbed (SWiFT) technology demonstrator (MAX) will be performed either by Tejas Mk-1A or project. The scaled-down flying wing test bed will upgraded Jaguar aircraft. The manned platforms will have an all up weight (AUW) of 1t. The aim of the operate alongside the unmanned CATS Warrior low project is to demonstrate competence in indigenous observable Wingman, which can be considered as the technologies related to flying a high-subsonic centrepiece of the programme. UAV, controllability of flying wing configuration and HAL has already made initial investments of Below: DRDO’s SWIFT autonomous take-off and landing technology. A Rs4bn towards development of CATS Warrior. “CATS stealth demonstrator. retractable landing gear system for the 1t class UAV Warrior is a deep penetration strike asset with an was handed over to ADE in January. The ambition internal weapons bay, which will have a radius of Atul Chandra behind the SWiFT project is to lead to development action of 350km and can be controlled from the of technologies for a proposed Indian Unmanned mothership. We are looking at a developmental Strike Aircraft Vehicle proposed to be powered by a timeline of four to five years,” says Arup Chatterjee, non-afterburning variant of the homegrown Kaveri HAL’s Director (Engineering and R&D). MBDA’s turbofan engine.

APRIL 2021 19 AEROSPACE Celera 500L Going with the flow

Can Otto Aviation’s unconventionally-shaped Celera 500L deliver radical gains in efficiency and operational costs due to its innovative laminar flow drag-reducing shape? BILL READ FRAeS investigates.

n January 2018, Californian start-up a pitot tube towards the wing tip where the drag company Otto Aviation made the first flight penalty is minimal. of a new unconventionally-shaped prototype The prototype Celera 500L is fitted with aircraft, the Celera 500L. Developed by mechanically-linked controls. Aircraft designer Bill aircraft and rocket designer William Otto, Otto told AEROSPACE that the reason for using Ithe pusher-propeller Celera 500L is deliberately such controls for the baseline configuration was to designed to achieve a smooth laminar flow reduce complexity and overall programme risk. “We in flight. The company is claiming that this are considering fly-by-wire flight controls as part aerodynamically efficient design can achieve of a roadmap to autonomy for freight and military radical improvements in speed, range, fuel savings applications,” he explained. and operating costs. To maintain the fuselage shape, the cockpit The Celera 500L defies the conventional windows in the Celera 500L are very elongated shape of an aircraft in several ways, the most – a design feature which some commentators are obvious of which is its short egg-shaped fuselage. concerned might lead to pilot visibility problems The aircraft also features thin straight wings with when landing and might require the fitting of winglets, a tailplane which is straight at the leading external cameras to assist with downward vision. edge and curved at the trailing edge and a long However, Otto said that synthetic vision will only narrow vertical stabiliser which extends both above be a non-flight critical system on the aircraft. and below the aircraft. The very thin wings do not “Vision from the cockpit is as good or better than contain fuel tanks but are fitted with an electrically comparable aircraft. Line of sight studies ensure powered de-icing system already certified on other the pilot has great visibility, including landing at a FAR part 23 aircraft. Each wing is also fitted with near-flat attitude.”

20 AEROSPACE Aluminium powerplant smoother surface. Otto said that, although the current version of the aircraft is designed to be The Celera 500L features a five-bladed pushing operated on paved runways only, there are some propeller, mounted behind the tail, which is modifications that could be made to the landing powered by a Raikhlin Aircraft Engine RED A03 gear and undercarriage that could make unpaved engine, certified to operate on Jet A1 or biodiesel. runway operation a possibility in the future. The lightweight, all-aluminium The shape of the aircraft also engine, which was certificated by enables it to have a large cabin EASA in 2014 and is in service interior (448ft³) with a height of 6’2” on the Russian Yak 52 trainer and and space for six business-class Altius UAV, is a V-type six-cylinder seats and a lavatory. According to geared turbocharged engine which Otto Aviation, this is equivalent to the effectively operates as two mutually WE ARE passenger capacity of a light/midsize independent six-cylinder engines jet and 10% larger than the cabin of and an advanced electronic control CONSIDERING a King Air 350. system capable of independent FLY-BY-WIRE operation. The manufacturers FLIGHT Going with the flow describe the RED A03 as a 550hp CONTROLS piston engine with the power of a The teardrop shape of the aircraft turbine which is capable of operating AS PART OF A is known as a prolate spheroid – a at altitudes of up to 50,000ft. ROADMAP TO shape also seen in fish, rugby balls A noticeable feature of the AUTONOMY and in early airship designs. The Celera 500L is the inclusion of two advantages of such a design is that prominent air intake cowlings on the FOR FREIGHT it facilitates the laminar flow or air Below opposite page, left: upper rear fuselage. Although these AND MILITARY passing over the surface area of the The prototype Celera 500L in flight. intakes do not conform to the overall APPLICATIONS aircraft. The Celera 500L fuselage is aerodynamic shape of the fuselage, designed to have an optimum length- Below middle: The unique shape of the Celera 500L they are necessary to turbocharge to-width ratio which will maximise fuselage will enable the the engine at high altitudes, remove heat from the laminar flow. The exterior of the cockpit is inclusion of a wider cabin cooling system and to provide additional thrust designed to conform to the spheroid shape, while than equivalent-sized from heated air from the engines ejected from the the clean surface of the underside of the aircraft aircraft. nozzles. However, the company says that these is maintained by retracting the undercarriage up Below right top: The cowlings would not be necessary for a version inside the fuselage. prototype Celera 500L on built for electric propulsion. The other parts of the aircraft are also the ground. intended to facilitate laminar flow. The long, Below right bottom: narrow higher-aspect ratio wings are similar to Déjà vu? The British Retractable undercarriage Planet Satellite design at those found on gliders and are more efficient. The the 1948 Farnborough The aircraft is fitted with a tricycle undercarriage wings are positioned past the mid-section of the Airshow. which retracts during flight to give the aircraft a aircraft to enhance laminar flow. The horizontal Wikipedia AEROSPACE Celera 500L

stabilisers are elliptical in shape to reduce drag ICAO target emissions standards for aircraft while the ventral fin reduces drag caused by entering service in or after 2031 by over 30%, fuselage upsweep and protects the propeller from making it the most environmentally friendly aircraft hitting the ground. The location of the pusher in its class. propeller also aids boundary layer ingestion. Have I not seen that shape Radical performance somewhere before?

According to Otto Aviation, the radical shape of Aircraft experts have pointed out similarities the Celera 500L could lead to a revolution in between the Celera 500L and a British aircraft private aviation, as its laminar flow surfaces have design called the Planet Satellite which was enabled a 59% reduction in drag compared to a shown at the 1948 SBAC Farnborough Airshow. similar-sized conventional aircraft. As a result of Built from magnesium alloy, the Planet Satellite this, the company claims that the Celera 500L will had a similar prolate spheroid shaped fuselage, offer: rear-mounted pusher propeller and retractable undercarriage but had shorter wings and tail fins. ● A maximum cruise speed of over 460mph – However, the aircraft was not a success, as it equivalent to a VLJ or very light jet was underpowered and was twice damaged while ● A range of 4,500nm (equivalent to the range of landing. a large cabin aircraft) The shape of the Celera 500L is also reminiscent of the 2011 EADS Voltaire future ● Eight times lower fuel consumption (18-25mpg concept electric aircraft. The Voltaire featured a compared to 2-3mpg for a comparable jet similar fuselage and wing shape to the Celera aircraft) 500L but was propelled by two rear-mounted ● 5-7 times reduction in operating costs than coaxial, counter-rotating shrouded propellers, comparable jet aircraft ($328 hourly operating powered by lithium-air batteries. costs for the Celera 500L, compared to $2,100 per hour) Aerodynamic analysis

It also has a glide ratio of less than 22:1 which With such radical improvements in efficiency means that, at an altitude of 30,000ft, the Celera claimed, AEROSPACE asked aerodynamic 500L can glide for up to 125 miles with no engine experts, Prof Chris Atkin (Professor of Engineering power. and Head of Engineering, UEA, Past President The manufacturers also claim that flight test RAeS), Kevin Hackett (Director Aeronautical results show that the Celera 500L has already Engineering at IHS Markit Engineering & Product delivered emission reductions of 80% less Design), Doug Greenwell (Associate Director, than comparable business aircraft and by 40% HIS ESDU) and Prof Kenichi Rinoie (Department compared to the latest commercial transport of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of aircraft. Otto Aviation says that the Celera 500L’s Tokyo), for their opinions. Their conclusion was reduction in carbon emissions exceeds FAA and that a 59% drag reduction for the Celera 500,

22 AEROSPACE compared to a similar-sized conventional aircraft, aircraft. However, these are ‘maximum’ speeds, not would be quite a hard task to achieve and not ‘cruise’ speeds. Cruise speeds for props are lower necessary to deliver the stated glide performance. than for jets because of the engine characteristics Attributing such a drag reduction to laminar flow – jets cruise at ~ max ML/D, props at ~ max L/D.’ was unrealistic: ‘for a drag-optimised aircraft, for The 4,500nm range was also possible: ‘but this which drag is divided equally between friction- can be achieved through fuel capacity as well as induced ‘profile’ drag, which will be reduced by performance.’ laminar flow, and lift-induced drag, which will not. Regarding Otto’s claim that the aircraft has A 59% profile drag reduction would be a good eight times lower fuel consumption (18-25mpg) result for a two-dimensional aerofoil with zero compared to 2-3mpg for a comparable jet lift-induced drag; once the lift-induced component aircraft, the experts were of the opinion that: ‘In is taken into account the overall drag reduction is the absence of a specified payload, cruise speed much lower, although the analysis is complicated and altitude, it is difficult to comment. A factor by the change in optimum lift coefficient and of eight reduction in fuel burn would require, hence operating condition. There are further crudely speaking, a doubling of the aerodynamic considerations: first, the impossibility in achieving efficiency of the airframe, a halving of specific comparable friction reduction across the more fuel consumption of the powerplant and a halving complex wing-fuselage-tail configuration; second, of the aircraft weight, all at the same time. The the realities of productionising the aircraft, with most likely way to achieve this would be to the cost of high-tolerance joints (especially under compare against a heavy jet aircraft operating a load), here including the currently absent cabin considerable way off its design point.’ windows; third, the clawback from in-service Commenting on the design in general, the degradation (FOD damage to the fuselage aerodynamic experts said: ‘Designs which push underside, given how low-slung it is on the ground, laminar flow to the limit tend to suffer from springs to mind). All of these will reduce the compromises in handling qualities or structural laminar flow benefit further.’ efficiency. Laminar flow is highly susceptible to They added: separation: ‘turbulators’ on glider wings are there ‘A more telling specification is a glide ratio for precisely this reason. Another consideration Below left and centre: The better than 1:22, suggesting a lift:drag ratio (L/D) is that, because of the susceptibility to surface prototype Celera 500L in typical of current airliners, far better than most degradation described above, laminar flow tends flight. current GA aircraft but far lower than most gliders. not to be totally reliable in service. An attractive Below right top: A Equally important to profile drag, here, is the benefit from guaranteed drag reduction would be comparison of the present aspect ratio of the wing. If the Celera 500 has a the freedom to carry less fuel for a given range, Celera 500L, with the high aspect ratio – which appears to be the case – reducing the all-up weight and therefore the larger Celera 1000L then L/D of 22 should be within its reach, without empty (structural) weight of the aircraft. However, design. needing sensational profile drag reductions.’ if the drag benefit cannot be certified, then this Below right bottom: However, the experts agreed that the 460mph opportunity is denied to the designer. Concept art of a passenger-carrying version max cruise speed claimed for the Celera 500 was Another certification challenge will arise from of the Celera 500L, fitted achievable, commenting that: ‘This is comparable the placing of the propulsor and the stabilisers with cabin windows. to speeds achieved by other propeller-driven in the wake of the laminar flow fuselage; these

APRIL 2021 23 AEROSPACE Celera 500L

will have to operate effectively under both laminar airline ticket pricing on a per passenger basis.’ and turbulent flow conditions, the latter quite likely Otto also believes that the low operating costs asymmetric if the loss of laminar flow is localised, of the Celera 500L will make it of interest to which is most probable. Associated stability and premium-class passengers who previously relied on control issues could be a problem during take-off, commercial aviation. Another potential market that landing, climb and descent when you are flying THE LOW Otto is predicting is that individuals and families through conditions, such as rain, for example, will be able to charter the Celera 500L at ‘prices which could change the flow resulting in lower stall OPERATING comparable to commercial airfares but with the speeds, possible wing drop, etc. All of these factors COSTS OF THE added convenience of private aviation’. tend to push designers away from aggressive use CELERA 500L In addition, Otto is optimistic that the aircraft of laminar flow, at least with the present level of WILL MAKE IT could be used as a cargo carrier to carry small understanding of the flow physics. volumes of high-value freight on point-to-point Pusher aircraft can be quite noisy if the OF INTEREST services. Capable of carrying D-sized cargo propeller cuts through the wakes from the TO PREMIUM- containers, the Celera 500L could carry small aerodynamic surfaces and the engine exhaust. CLASS volumes of high-value cargo directly from point of The landing gear arrangement allows for little PASSENGERS manufacture to point of sale without the need to fly rotation at take-off and landing and the nose gear via traditional cargo hubs. loads could be considerable in the case of a heavy WHO In addition, the Celera 500L could be of landing.’ PREVIOUSLY interest to the military to use for the transport of RELIED ON personnel or freight, as well as for ISR missions, Multiple markets operating to remote bases previously only served COMMERCIAL by larger aircraft. There is also the option for an If the step changes in efficiency claimed by the AVIATION. uncrewed version, as the manufacturer believes new aircraft design are proved to be achievable in OTTO AVIATION that ‘its combination of range, speed, service ceiling actual operations, then the Celera 500L could be and cost are unattainable by existing unmanned a competitive contender in a number of different aerial vehicles (UAVs)’. markets. Otto Aviation is already thinking ahead and proposing the Celera 500L for a variety of Economic advantage? passenger, cargo and military roles. One of the markets in which the company thinks the aircraft To succeed in these markets, the Celera 500L has potential is for air taxi services. The Celera would have to show a strong economic advantage 500L is small enough to take off and land at over other forms of transport. The air taxi and regional and municipal airports which means that it private charter market is not an easy sector could operate to destinations unavailable to larger to succeed in. In the 2000s, there was much aircraft. hype over the potential of the very light jets Otto Aviation is confident that the Celera revolutionising the air taxi market with many 500L’s long-range capabilities would also enable new aircraft designs under development but the new operations which were previously only possible business never took off. There was also talk of using narrowbody aircraft, saying that: ‘The Celera personal air vehicles opening up new markets for 500L is designed for transcontinental range with individual point-to-point travel but which also came operating costs equal to or better than commercial to nothing. In more recent years, the short-range

24 AEROSPACE flight market has been focusing on the potential of of these simulated predictions based off of the eVTOL urban air mobility vehicles – a market that simulator’s historical accuracy.” is still evolving. The production versions of the aircraft are As for the longer distance point-to-point also expected to differ from the prototype. “The market, the Celera 500L would also have current prototype was built as a proof of concept to demonstrate radical cost and time-saving to demonstrate laminar flow and overall aircraft advantages over commercial flights and business performance,” Otto told AEROSPACE. “The jets. production version will incorporate several changes, including passenger windows.” Progress report When asked what plans Otto Aviation had to create the infrastructure needed to build and However, Otto Aviation is rising to the challenge of support the series production versions of the proving the efficiency of its new design with flight Celera 500L, Otto stated that the manufacturing, certification planned for 2023, followed by entry spares, training and MRO of the aircraft will be the into market in 2025. responsibility of the original company. “We intend The full-scale prototype has now achieved to build and support the series production of the over 35 hours of flight test time, most of which Celera 500L,” he stated. “Teaming with the best have been spent validating performance at higher partners for the overall supply chain, maintenance altitudes in clean flaps-up/gear-up configuration. and training will enable success.” Unfortunately, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in some delays to the schedule. “In Reshaping the future March of last year our flight test centre was shut down due to Covid-19 stay-at-home orders,” Looking further to the future, Otto Aviation sees admitted Otto. “Since there was uncertainty as potential for its new aircraft to be converted to to when these restrictions would be lifted, we hybrid or electrical propulsion where the laminar made the decision to accelerate some planned flow design would enable much longer ranges modifications to the prototype, allowing us to fly to than current e-aircraft designs. Depending on the higher altitudes. Currently, flight tests are expected progress of battery technology, a zero-emissions to resume in Q3 this year.” version of the aircraft could be available by 2027. Below left: How the shape The flight tests are to include a combination Autonomous unpiloted versions are also under of the Celera 500L will of physical prototypes and virtual testing. Bill Otto consideration. maximise laminar flow. explains: “There will be four additional prototypes Otto also has plans for the Celera 1000L which Below centre: A chart from built for certification – two for flight testing, one for will be 20% larger while still maintaining its laminar Otto Aviation comparing structural testing and one for systems integration. flow advantages. This larger design would have a performance and costs between the Celera 500L We have also relied on digital simulation quite a cabin volume nearly double the size of the current and an equivalent business bit. Otto Aviation decided early on to build a flight configuration which could be used to carry more jet. simulator for the test pilots and this has proved passengers or five D-sized shipping containers for Below right: A Raikhlin invaluable for the flight test programme. The test air cargo. Aircraft Engine RED A03. pilots are able to simulate expanded envelope So, is an egg-shaped propeller-powered aircraft missions or tweaks to the configuration prior to the transport of the future? Watch the skies and All images courtesy of Otto Aviation, except where stated. actual flight and have confidence in the accuracy see. Raikhlin

APRIL 2021 25 SPACEFLIGHT Earth observation satellites ESA

Private eyes on Earth

Once a domain of governments and militaries, satellite Earth observation today has seen these existing players joined by a vibrant influx of new commercial space start-ups pushing innovation to the limits. TEREZA PULTAROVA reports.

Above: New York in the t is a benchmark used by Earth observation demonstrated that satellite images can be used to snow, as seen from a companies to showcase their abilities – counting monitor populations of endangered African elephants. Copernicus satellite. cars in parking lots from space using artificial There is also a lot more you can do with space Below: A Planet Labs Dove intelligence algorithms that automatically analyse data today – measure CO2 concentrations in the imaging CubeSat. This is images acquired by Earth observation satellites. atmosphere, identify methane leaks from gas not a scale model but the IRetail chains can use this information to gauge infrastructure or detect air pollution produced by size of the actual satellite. differences in the performance of individual stores individual ships at sea. and shopping trends over time. Wealthy investors, who can afford the data, can predict the chains’ Earth on film performance and buy or sell their shares ahead of quarterly reports, according to a study by scientists The planet today is under permanent surveillance from UC Berkeley and the University of Kentucky. by hundreds of Earth observation satellites carrying In May 2020, Harvard University researchers various kinds of sensors and the number is only counted cars in satellite images of hospital car parks expected to grow. in Wuhan, China. Based on the increased traffic “We expect that more than 1,000 Earth compared to previous years, they concluded that the observation satellites could be launched over the next

Planet Labs Covid-19 pandemic may have started months earlier decade,” says Dallas Kasaboski, Senior Analyst at than had been officially claimed. Northern Sky Research, a US-headquartered satellite However, there are other things that can be industry consultancy. “The Earth observation sector counted and monitored from space too, as long has experienced a massive transformation over the as they are large enough to be distinguished in past decade, shifting from a small number of large images with 30-50cm resolution: the growth of satellites providing images of a single place on Earth refugee camps and illegal mines, the impact of at best every week to the constellations of dozens of natural disasters and the missile development effort smaller satellites that we see today capable of daily by adversaries. Just recently, British zoologists revisits.”

26 AEROSPACE 27 ICEYE APRIL 2021 “Planet really delivered a huge push to the Developed through the agile aerospace In a blog post published in January 2020, the That, however, does not mean the large Planet Labs’ view Planet Labs’ become that has almost The one company Earth observation revolution ofsynonymous with the is San Francisco-basedthe past decade, however, in 2010 by three formerPlanet Labs. Founded Labs (or Planet), built itsNASA engineers, Planet in a garage in Cupertino andfirst satellite, Dove 1, Soyuz rocket in 2013.launched it aboard Russia’s grown into a multi-facetedSince then, Planet has Its fleet, which today comprisesleader and a pioneer. (prior to the launch ofmore than 150 satellites largest constellation ever), canSpaceX’s Starlink, the Earth every day, openingimage every spot on the that were previouslynew avenues for applications impossible. largesector,” says Kasaboski. “They pushed for a globeconstellation, they were the first to image the aton a daily basis and they have been a leader since.” pushing new ideas into Earth observation ever Dovephilosophy of rapid testing and iteration, the is aboutplatform at the heart of Planet’s constellation anthe size of a loaf of bread. Each Dove carries surfaceoptical imager that photographs the Earth’s with three-metre resolution. company’s co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Robbie Schingler, said that, over the past decade, byPlanet has reduced the cost of reaching space bea factor of ten and proved that satellites can wasbuilt at 1,000 times lower mass and cost than considered the norm previously. largergovernment-funded technology is dead. The satellites, albeit dispatched in much lower numbers, highercan guarantee better accuracy and provide resolution images of up to 30cm. Military technology is one of ICEYE There are other start-ups readying to compete There Ten years ago, government organisations,Ten years ago, then pore over everyHuman analysts would that“Ten years ago, you might have had a sensor Nowadays, Finnish company with ICEYE. American Capella Space launched SAR the first satellite of a planned 36-strong constellation in 2019 and Canadian UrtheCast the had been known to have similar plans before Covid-19 crisis struck. those developing synthetic aperture radar instruments in mass.that can fit on satellites of less than 100kg Its ICEYE-X1and ICEYE-X2 satellites can capture 1m resolution radar images of the Earth’s surface day and night and through the clouds. The company’s would beultimate goal is to build a constellation that hour.able to image each spot on the Earth every militaries and large wealthy companies, such as those large wealthy companies, militaries and single images gas sector, would buy in the oil and These providers, the likesfrom a handful of providers. would operate small fleetsof Airbus and DigitalGlobe, satellites that took years toof large and expensive develop and build. for anything of interest toprecious image looking new space revolution, came the their employers. Then digital technology. Componentsdriven by advances in and lighter and, suddenly, itbecame cheaper, smaller small satellite, or even a CubeSatwas possible to fit a of obtaining usefulwith decent sensors, capable various aspects of the Earth’simages or measuring environment. “Thesewould be one metre long,” says Kasaboski. can putdays, the sensors are much smaller, so you tothem on smaller satellites, which are cheaper opticallaunch. The miniaturisation trend started with we can now also see it in radar, instruments. However, and mostlywhich used to be very large and expensive becomingthe domain of the military but now they are smaller too.” Below: Images taken from ICEYE SAR satellites. from top left: Clockwise of Alexandria,the Port the main port in Egypt; Glacier, the Thwaites Antarctica; Stockpiles seen and measured from ICEYE very high resolution SAR imaging at the port of Bayuquan, China; ICEYE radar satellite image from Stratford, Mount Taranaki, New Zealand; and flooded fields around the Lake Spain. Albufera in Valencia, Planet Lab “Copernicus is fantastic for users that are Artificial intelligence, Kasaboski says, is the future Planet, for example, aims to develop an artificial “Just from our ESA hub, we distribute about from our ESA hub, 250 “Just If you terabytes of Earth observation data per day. reach would put this on to discs, you would actually commercial The Tower.” the height of the Eiffel toplayers and Copernicus, with its free data, learned quite successfully over the years and even coexist existence. other’s benefit from each happy with 10m resolution data delivered some time between 6 and 12 days,” says Kasaboski. free data has pushed the prices down in the “The has medium-resolution part of the market, which on revenues of medium-resolution had an effect it has facilitated a shift from data providers. However, selling single images to monitoring and subscription to the availability of free high- services.” Thanks quality data, many new companies have emerged on the downstream side creating artificial intelligence algorithms and analytics software for various applications, from forest monitoring to identifying best locations for solar farms and measuring thermal behaviour of cities. of Earth observation. The amount of data produced today is such that human analysts can no longer serve as the main processing power. “We still see some human-led analysis but there is a shift towards automation, towards software-driven analysis,” says Kasaboski. “The computers can handle many images at the same time, even images from different satellites or images acquired many weeks apart.” intelligence system that would use the company’s images to find and index physical change on the Earth in the same way that Google indexes the internet. Ultimately, users would be able to query how many ships there are in Mediterranean ports or how many new houses have been built in Pakistan. Images taken from Planet Labs’ satellites, clockwise from top left: New River Gorge National Park, Fayette County; Taywood Mingo Surface Mine, West Virginia; West County, Lives Matter Plaza Black DC; Washington, NW, Pakistan,Karachi, West on the Picnickers Virginia; Esplanade des Invalides, Paris, France and sugar cane field burning, Palm Florida. County, Beach Background previous spread: Copacabana, Rio, Brazil.

SPACEFLIGHT satellites Earth observation “Today, every data product that is generated, is on “Today, “A lot of novel applications and services have

AEROSPACE AEROSPACE Free view benefits Ten years ago, Hanowski says, Earth observation missions operated by the space agency would generate 20 to 30 times more data than would get eventually downloaded by users. Since then, the trend has completely reversed. average downloaded 20 to 30 times,” says Hanowski. appeared where our data is just included and becomes in terms of its source, a commodity,” says Nicolaus Hanowski, Head of the Mission Management & Ground Segment Department at ESA. “The overall availability of data has increased; the user community has also increased and is now ranging from specific scientific user groups to products that big information companies, such as Google, are generating in which Earth observation data is seamlessly integrated in the same fashion as navigation data. Alongside the commercial new space Earth observation developments, one of the key Earth beenobservation projects of the past decade has of theCopernicus, an Earth observation programme theEuropean Commission, carried out jointly with eightEuropean Space Agency (ESA). With currently aspectssatellites in orbit, designed to monitor various deliversof the Earth’s environment, the programme the goaldata for free to users all over the world with andof making Earth observation insights accessible useduseful in sectors that would not have naturally them in the past. Copernicus might be capable of even better resolutions, but datamight be capable of even better resolutions, of such quality is not commercially available. 28 Copernicus/ESA 29 APRIL 2021 To make the insights accessible to the widest To more will provide much core platform “The “For example, you could model the impact of car you could model example, “For Earth observation data, including measurements of the state of things on the surface of the Earth and that we should be able to get to a even in the interior, similar level of predictive and prognostic power that we have in weather modelling.” possible user group, the data has to be presented in skills, a way that does not require advanced technical to be done by artificial with all the data crunching intelligence algorithms running on powerful super computers. visualised ways of interacting with the data set and the means to transform this data into information,” fundamental idea. It will the Hanowski said. “That’s available in the military sector be like technologies where you can play out various scenarios in a visual way.” Broadening the vision Broadening is together with ESA, European Commission, The the Copernicus and otheralso investing in making more widely accessible.Earth observation data last year, Destination Earth project, announced The of Earth based on Earthaims to build ‘digital twins’ would enable users to modelobservation data that way weather system, in a similar the entire Earth’s users could The today. and climate can be modelled and model impacts ofeven test various scenarios events on the planet globallydecisions, policies and and regionally. pollution levels,” Hanowski says.electrification on air on the “Or the probability of a drought and its effect partproduction of key agricultural crops in a certain amounts of huge such already have of the world. We OVER THE PAST DECADE, THE COST OF SATELLITE IMAGERY HAS BEEN CUT IN HALF Images taken from Copernicus satellites: Sea; Swirls in the Black Cyclone Idai west of Madagascar; Amsterdam airport; first fires of the season in Siberia; Brijuni Islands National Park, Croatia; and a cloudless view of Northern Italy. Background this spread: Milan, Italy. Kasaboski sees the future in what he calls “From a technology standpoint, every supplier’s While, in the past, users would purchase single past, users would purchase While, in the admits, is still muchSatellite imagery, Kasaboski the ‘Netflix model’ – a subscription-based service, combining data from multiple operators, various resolutions and even different sensors in a unified platform, akin to the American content streaming service. Not only would such a service likely reduce prices even further but it would also add convenience for users who today frequently have to shop with multiple providers, acquire multiple subscriptions or solicit the help of third-party companies. image is a different size, spatial and spectral resolution,” says Kasaboski. “There exist gaps in historical and global coverage, which often require downstream analytics firms and end users to compare imagery across providers.” immediate access, satellite imagery has advantages there,” Kasaboski says. images, most companies now offer subscriptions that companies now offer images, most down, delivering of a single image bring the price as soon as those becomeupdated images to users decade, the cost of satelliteavailable. “Over the past in half, thanks to the arrivalimagery has been cut “The subscriptionof new players,” says Kasaboski. down even further. For example,model is pushing that the US National Geospatial- Planet’s agreement with for delivery of millions ofIntelligence Agency called If it had charged thesquare kilometres of imagery. $15 square kilometres fornormal prices of $3 to optical imagery at the time,medium or high-resolution ended quite quickly.” the contract would have ormore expensive than alternatives, such as drone basis.aerial photography, on a per square kilometre more“Of course, if you want a much larger area or GENERAL AVIATION Transonic gliders A need for speed

WHEN PEOPLE THINK OF RADIO- CONTROLLED GLIDERS, MOST OF THEM PICTURE In January, US model glider A LIGHTWEIGHT, enthusiast Spencer Lisenby flew QUITE FRAGILE, STRUCTURE a radio-controlled model glider WHICH IS at an unofficial record-breaking INTENDED TO speed of 548mph (835kph) using FLOAT ABOUT the principle of dynamic soaring. GENTLY ON BILL READ FRAeS reports on THERMAL how it was done. ACTIVITY IN THE AIR. IT’S A he quote to the right came from model VERY RELAXING the air, so gliders will fall down and be caught in the glider enthusiast Spencer Lisenby in a turbulent shear layer which could cause the aircraft lecture presented at TNG Technology ACTIVITY AND IS to crash. Day in 2017. However, the sort of model SOMETHING YOU The potential of using winds from the other gliding that Lisenby himself indulges DO ON A SUNDAY side of a slope was first explored in the 1990s by Tin is of a very different nature. On 19 January engineer, dynamicist and RC glider enthusiast Joe AFTERNOON AT Lisenby flew a model glider at what is believed to Wurts. Wurts was flying a foam glider at Parker be a world record-breaking speed of 548mph. The THE PARK. Mountain in California when it accidently flew into radio-controlled glider had no engine to assist its Spencer the lee of the hill, lost control and dived. However, flight and achieved the record using the principle of Wurts was able to regain control of the aircraft and dynamic soaring. Lisenby fly it back to the other side of the hill. When the TNG Technology aircraft returned, Wurts noticed that it was flying Dynamic soaring much faster than would be expected and realised Day, 2017 that the glider was being affected by dynamic Dynamic soaring is enabled by the way wind soaring. behaves when it flows over a hillside. As sideways The principle of dynamic soaring is realised by moving air encounters the slope of the hill, it is flying an RC glider on the opposite side of a slope deflected upwards, creating a vertical component from the wind. When the aircraft is flying higher of lift which can be used by gliders – model or than the top of the slope, it is accelerated by the otherwise – for slope soaring. However, Lisenby tailwind. explained that this activity has always been confined If the glider is now flown down through the to the front side of the ridge. The other side of a shear layer into the calmer air beneath and then ridge has always had a reputation for dangerous reverses direction, it now has enough velocity to winds which can destroy model aircraft if they stray ascend again in the wind when it can perform into it. On this side there is no vertical component to another 180º turn to accelerate even faster and

30 AEROSPACE Airflows over the front of a ridge. Airflows behind a ridge.

Dynamic soaring. How the albatross does it by using wind over the sea and lee eddies between waves.

Designed for speed the cycle begins again. If there was no wind resistance on the aircraft, the aircraft would When attempting to fly at such high speeds, it is not continue to accelerate infinitely but its maximum possible to use an ordinary RC model glider which speed is constrained by its drag. would quickly come apart. Lisenby described how, “When explaining dynamic soaring, it gets between 1998 and 2003, attempts were made to messy because you have two frames of reference: fly model gliders faster and faster using dynamic the air and the ground,” explains Lisenby. “If you soaring. Speeds were achieved from 150-250mph stick with the air, you can imagine two nice distinct but model gliders were not sufficiently robust to jumps in airspeed as it crosses the shear layer cope with the stresses imposed on them and often each time. First, as it leaves the calm air and enters disintegrated in the air due to the wing spar bending the headwind and, second as it leaves the tailwind as a result of excess G-forces and failures due to and enters the still air. Drag constantly works to flutter at high speeds. decrease the airspeed between these two spikes.

The ground speed increases only between the two Spencer Lisenby shear crossings while the plane does the 180º top turn. This is due to the net aerodynamic force vector being tilted forward from the wind on the plane’s belly.” Lisenby explained how the advantages of dynamic soaring have long been utilised by the black-footed albatross which can fly hundreds of miles close to the surface of the ocean without flapping its wings. Sailing boats also move by taking advantage of two moving masses by having a keel The 60in Kinetic model glider which reached a speed of in the water and a sail in the air. 250mph.

APRIL 2021 31 GENERAL AVIATION Transonic gliders

It was at this point that Lisenby became ground. “Radar is now the standard measurement,” interested in the possibilities of dynamic soaring explained Lisenby. “We can’t measure the speed and began to make his own model gliders specially from sensors in the glider, as indicated airspeed has adapted and designed for speed. The first was the to be corrected for temperature which is difficult for 60in wingspan Kinetic T-tail which reached a speed pilots to know. Using commercial GPS is also not of 250mph. Lisenby then looked at ways to makes THE SPEED practical, as it loses its lock-on satellites at around the gliders go even faster. The issue of wing failures ACHIEVED 4G. LIDAR (light detection and ranging) remote was solved by simply adding more carbon. “People BY THE sensing systems are also not practical, as they are hadn’t done it because there was a whole concept hard to aim at a fast-moving model glider which that gliders had to be lightweight,” said Lisenby. UNPOWERED has a low radar signature due to its size and is built The issue of flutter was tackled by adding GLIDER, WHICH from carbon fibre. Radar has the advantage that it locked-out flap servos. Lisenby explained: “Servo WAS NOT FAR doesn’t depend on the wind speed, it’s anchored motors which operate the control surfaces are to the ground and it’s easy for everyone across the embedded in the wing and they inherently have gear SHORT OF THE world to compare their speeds with each other.” lash. If you were to grab a control surface and try to 561MPH CRUISE However, there was an initial problem with flex it in the same way that the air would do when SPEED OF A finding manufacturers who made radar guns that flying, then you notice that the servo arm rotates BOEING 787 could go over 310mph. “I eventually managed to due to gear lash. This creates elasticity which allows persuade radar gun company Kustoms Signals to flutter to come in at a much lower speed than it DREAMLINER, make me a radar gun that could go up to 575mph. should. We found that if you orient the servo arm MAY ACTUALLY They even called it the Falcon DS after dynamic exactly in line with the push rod linkage, you can HAVE BEEN soaring. Not long after that, Applied Concepts eliminate gear lash entirely. The risk of flutter from EVEN HIGHER, made the Stalker Pro II which can go up to bearing slop was also reduced by adding a third 850mph.” bearing support to the servos.” IF AIR SPEED Lisenby continued to develop new model glider “We also found that there were benefits to IS TAKEN INTO designs that would fly even faster. His next glider adding span-loading to the wings. Traditionally, ACCOUNT was the 100in wingspan Kinetic DP which he people added ballast inside the fuselages. “But worked on with Dirk Pflug in Germany who helped that would have the effect of making it worse and develop a new laminar aerofoil. This glider set 11 increase the bending loads on the wing. However, new world records from 309mph up to 498mph. if we put the weight out in the wing tip, it has two “The wing measured 2.5m which made it difficult benefits – it opposes the bending moment and to transport, so it was made up of three pieces also increases the roll inertia of the glider. Gliders which were joined together,” explained Lisenby. in dynamic soaring conditions are always being “In the world of model gliders, bigger is almost rolled around and adding this point mass stabilises always better. They’re easier to see when flying the plane and enables gliders to move more easily and are much more stable in turbulence. However, through turbulent air.” larger aircraft do have the downside in that they The model glider was also fitted with a T-tail – a have more structural problems and they are more design feature that many model glider enthusiasts expensive. We also have a problem in that a thicker avoid because of the additional structure and weight wing, which is stronger and in which you can fit the to support it. However, Lisenby considers that in servos, causes more drag than a thinner wing. You dynamic soaring the extra weight is not a problem have to have trade-offs.” and the T-tail has the advantage of being less The next stage was to make a glider with an affected by wing wake and also being less prone to even wider wingspan which Lisenby achieved damage when the aircraft returns to the ground. by replacing the 40in centre panel of the 100in “I should point out that I’m not the only one who was solving these problems along the way,” adds Lisenby. “RCGroups.com has been an amazing community forum where everyone shares the same goal of flying faster. Here we had access to input from a wide assortment of brilliant engineers, machinists, pilots, composites experts and even a prominent MIT professor (Mark Drela). The speeds achieved with dynamic soaring are really the result of countless enthusiasts all pushing in the same direction.”

Transonic complications How fast was that? with supersonic airflow with vehicle Mach = 0.73 The speed of the gliders in the air was measured and local Mach of 1.25,

using handheld radar guns from observers on the equivalent to over 900mph. Mark Drela

32 AEROSPACE Spencer Lisenby wing. As a result, you start to get a laminar shock wave forming over the upper surface of the wing, as the supersonic air has to decelerate very rapidly to match the air at the bottom of the wing. This shock wave ruins the performance of the wing. We also noticed a sharp decline in maximum lift coefficient.” Lisenby experimented with a swept wing design to delay the transonic issues. However, this design did not behave as well in the air. He then developed another design, the Transonic DP, which has a one-piece ‘skinny wing’ spanning 3.3m wide with an aspect ratio of 22.5:1. “The wing has to be in one piece to maintain its structural integrity,” he said. “It is very long which makes it difficult to transport but I can just about fit it into my pickup with the

Spencer Lisenby wing going in next to me in the driver’s seat.” The Transonic glider wing was fitted with special Kinetic with a 70in one to extend the wingspan to aerofoils – which were developed with assistance 130in. The increased aspect ratio of the new 130in from Dirk Pflug, Mark Drela and Thomas Pils. Kinetic DP proved to be 10-15% faster than the 100in Kinetic DP and the new glider managed a Towards transonic speeds top speed of 513mph. Using his newfound knowledge gained from Using this aircraft, Lisenby succeeded in achieving these aircraft, Lisenby decided to go back to higher and higher speed records. In April 2017, he something smaller which was more affordable and set a new world speed record of 519mph. On 19 made the 2m Kinetic DP. With an aspect ratio of January 2021, this record was broken again with an 17:1 designed for higher lift coefficients and fitted incredible speed of 548 mph from the top of Parker with Dirk Pflug’s laminar flow aerofoils, this aircraft Mountain near Los Angeles where the ‘Santa Ana’ achieved the 2m wingspan record of 462mph. winds were blowing at 65mph. The unofficial record “It’s a really fun plane to fly,” enthused Lisenby. “A speed was measured using a radar gun held by pilot who is really aggressive on the sticks and fellow model glider enthusiastic Bruce Tebo, who likes to pull a lot of elevator is well rewarded with was the first to break the 500mph barrier. spectacular performance. We measured 120g of The speed achieved by the unpowered glider, acceleration on this aircraft which was as high which was not far short of the 561mph cruise as the sensors would go. This is way above the speed of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, may actually maximum G-force that human pilots can achieve, have been even higher, if air speed is taken into which is around 8g.” account. “I think we actually peaked around Mach As each aircraft got faster, the rules governing 0.82 just as we crossed the shear layer into the the aerodynamics began to change. “We’re now Top: Swept wing glider headwind,” remarked Lisenby. “With a ground speed flying in a different realm than what we’re used design under test. measured by radar of 548mph and adding a 65mph to,” Lisenby observed. “We’re now well into the Above: 130in Kinetic – headwind gives a total airspeed of 613mph.” transonic realm where the compressibility of air 513mph. “It’s not just a question of developing an aircraft becomes a factor. At these speeds you can get air Below: Craters on Mars – design, the glider operator also needs to develop travelling at over 900mph over the surface of the ideal for dynamic soaring. skills to cope with such high speeds,” remarks Lisenby. “The faster you go, the faster you have

ESA to think. The minimum orbit time of the glider is only two seconds, which means that, in 0.45 sec, it travels over 100 metres (328ft).” Looking forward to the future, Lisenby is aiming to push the Transonic DS glider even faster to speeds up to 580mph. He also thinks that there is potential to develop dynamic soaring designs for solar-powered autonomous UAVs which could fly at low altitudes over oceans harnessed by the albatross or using the high-altitude Jetstream 100mph (161kph) air currents at 30,000 feet. “I’ve heard that it’s really windy on Mars,” he quipped. “There’s also plenty of craters which means that you could always find a wind direction to take advantage of dynamic soaring winds.”

APRIL 2021 33 AEROSPACE Morphing structures NASA NASA

Shape shifters The traditional rigid structure of an aircraft has meant that its wings cannot operate at their full efficiency at different stages of flight. However, the development of new technology is now enabling engineers to create new morphing aircraft designs which can change shape in flight. BILL READ FRAeS reports. Kenny Cheung, NASA Ames Research Center ince the beginning of manned flight, the main aim of aircraft designers has been to create a largely rigid structure which can safety withstand the rigours of flight, including such factors as high speed, Sadverse weather and extreme temperatures. Aircraft designs are also as lightweight as possible to maximise speed, range and fuel efficiency. The shape of an aircraft’s wings will affect its performance. Wing shapes are often defined by their aspect ratio – the length of the wingspan divided by the mean of its chord (the distance between the leading and trailing edge). Different aspect ratios will affect the amount of light-induced drag that a wing will create. Wings with lower aspect Top left: NASA/MIT ratio would result in an increase in both range and morphing wing. ratios will have more induced drag than those with endurance. Aircraft with large wingspans have good Top right: NASA’s Active high aspect ratios. An increase in wing aspect Aeroelastic Wing F/A-18 range and fuel efficiency but are slower and less performs a 360º aileron roll manoeuvrable. Aircraft with low aspect ratio wings Bold Method/Colin Cutler Method/Colin Bold during a research flight. are faster and more manoeuvrable but have poor Above right: The NASA aerodynamic efficiency. lattice block morphing wing Aircraft designers have therefore varied the under assembly for testing shape of an aircraft and its wings depending on purposes, this initial wing their intended use – for example, slow-flying gliders was hand-assembled but have long thin wings while fighter aircraft have short future versions could be assembled by specialised tapered wings for fast flight. The result is an aircraft miniature robots. shape which can fly close to its optimum in certain Left: Wing aspect ratio flight conditions but at sub-optimal performance for comparison. other conditions.

34 AEROSPACE In addition, aircraft also have to be able to take Morphing structures – new materials off, land and manoeuvre and so the designs have incorporated movable control surfaces in the rudder While recent years have seen a renewed interest and wings, as well as flaps or slats to change the in aircraft designs which can change shape using geometry of the wings. conventional technology – in particular eVTOL UAMs – engineers are also looking at designs Changing wings which include wings that can twist and bend without the need for conventional aerofoils. Until The concept of morphing wings is not a new idea. recently, the development of such morphing aircraft The original Wright brothers Flyer 1 in 1903 was was restricted by technological limitations which operated using wires and pulleys controlled by the prevented the creation of structures that could pilot which provided roll control by bending and change shape while still being lightweight and twisting the wood-and-canvas wings. maintaining their structural integrity. The advantages offered by the application Morphing wings can change shape in a variety of morphing techniques have long attracted the of ways: planform alteration (involving span, chord interest of military aircraft designers. A number and sweep changes), out-of-plane transformation of military fighters have been fitted with variable (twist, dihedral/gull and span-wise bending) and A peregrine falcon diving with wings closed/black geometry wings with the aim of maximising aerofoil adjustment (camber and thickness). kite soaring with wings performance at both low and high speeds with Looking at the first of these – increasing the outstretched. high-speed cruising efficiencies and supersonic wingspan increases the aspect ratio and wing area and decreases the span-wise lift distribution for the Martin Adams/Jim Zipp same lift. The reduced drag on the wing can enable increases in an aircraft’s range. However, there is a problem, as a longer span is more subject to wing- root bending and will have to be strong and flexible enough to withstand the increased forces subjected to it. There is also the issue of scale. A large morphing wing will not have the same structural stiffness as a small morphing wing. There have also been difficulties with attempts to twist and deform wings. Wings of high- performance aircraft are deliberately stiffer than those in slower aircraft, as too much flexibility can cause adverse aeroelastic twist which degrades the control effectiveness at high aerodynamic pressures. Designers of morphing versions of such aircraft would have to create a structure which it penetration speeds at low level. These include the would not only be more difficult to bend but which General Dynamics F-111, Grumman F-14 Tomcat, must also be strong enough to withstand the Panavia Tornado, Sukhoi Su-22 and Su-24, Mikoyan additional loads and stresses of high-performance Mig-23, Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack, as well as the flight. As a result of this, apart from variable-sweep Rockwell B-1 Lancer bomber. and swing-wing fast aircraft designs, most morphing In the 1980s, Rockwell conducted the active applications have been restricted to lightly loaded, flexible wing (AFW) programme which adapted relatively low-speed designs. conventional control surfaces to be used as aerodynamic tabs to control the aeroelastic twist 3-2-1 actuate! of the wing, allowing the aircraft to operate beyond the dynamic pressure where conventional aileron The current conventional approach to enable wing reversal begins. AFW was followed by the Active shape-changing is to fit mechanical actuators Aeroelastic Wing (AAW) research programme attached to internal mechanisms within the wing funded by the US Air Force and NASA between covered with flexible/sliding aerodynamic surfaces, 1996-2005 which used AFW technology on a together with load-transfer attachments between modified F/A-18. the skin and the skeleton. This requires a distributed Recent years have also seen the development of array of actuators, mechanisms, and materials that aerial vehicles which are designed to change shape slide relative to each other. during different phases of flight. Many designs from An additional challenge is that of structural the new generation of urban air mobility (UAM) integrity. The system must also be able to lock in ‘flying taxi’ platforms can morph from rotary-wing place when the wing is under load to avoid the during take-off and landing to fixed-wing during actuators having to maintain their position without the flight. support of a structural element.

APRIL 2021 35 AEROSPACE Morphing structures NASA

NASA 21st Century Morphing Aircraft concept from 2001 showing how an aircraft could change shape during different phases of flight.

However, in many cases, using such a system of When embedded with a network of sensor and actuators adds so much weight to the structure that control systems, the structural performance of the it cancels out any efficiency advantages produced wing can be changed to meet different operational by the smoother aerodynamic surfaces. The speed performance criteria, as well as to repair damage. at which morphing occurs is also important, as Smart structures are being applied to a wide rapid changes can significantly increase aircraft range of potential applications to enhance aircraft manoeuvrability. There is also the problem that an performance. Four areas include: vibration/acoustic aircraft will need additional power to operate internal control, shape control, multi-functional smart actuators, as well as the issue of what happens if structures and morphing aircraft. the power fails or the actuators fail to operate and the wing is left in a sub-optimal position. Smart materials Another issue is the design of a flexible skin which can bend and stretch while morphing. While In addition, there have been advances in smart conventional hinged mechanisms are effective in materials which can change shape. One example is controlling airflow, they are not efficient, as hinges shape memory alloy which contracts when heated and other junctions create surface discontinuities, above a certain temperature while another is resulting in unwanted fluid dynamic phenomena. ‘piezoelectrics’ which can contract or extend when The skin on a morphing structure must be soft an electric field is applied to it. Using a combination enough to allow shape changes and also stiff of these materials can enable an entire wing to enough to withstand aerodynamic loads and change shape. maintain its shape. Skins can either be made from

a single flexible material or constructed using Robotics Jenett et al Soft overlapping pieces imitating scales or feathers.

Smart structures

However, the advancement of morphing wings has been facilitated by the recent development of new materials and mechanisms which can enable Lattice building block the creation of moving structures to a degree not elements can be previously possible. Engineers are developing assembled into shape- smart materials which embed active elements into changing structures. conventional structural materials. There are two different approaches to using these materials – one being to create structures which combine rigid and Another area of research has been into cellular flexible elements and the other to combine the solids comprising the interconnected honeycomb of elements of both in a flexible lattice which can flex beams or plates which form the edges and faces of but then return to its original shape – similar to a cells and offer both high strength and stiffness per sponge. weight at very low mass density. These can be used Smart structures can either use actuators to to construct complex composite structures which make a structure bend or incorporate actuators into can be assembled in different spacial geometries the material to make a structure that bends. Typical to exhibit a variety of load responses. The EU 3AS smart structure actuators include: shape memory project looked at the development of ‘smart spars’ alloys (SMAs), piezoelectric and electrostrictive to enable the control of the bending and torsional ceramics, magnetostrictive materials and electro- stiffness of aircraft wings through changes in the and magneto-rheological fluids and elastomers. internal aircraft structure.

36 AEROSPACE NASA/Kenneth Cheung NASA/Kenneth lightweight lattice framework and covered with a thin layer of similar polymer material. According to NASA, because the wing structure is composed mostly of empty space, it forms a mechanical ‘metamaterial’ which combines the structural stiffness of a rubber-like polymer and the extreme lightness and low density of an aerogel. The wing is able to automatically respond to changes in its aerodynamic loading conditions by shifting its shape using a self- adjusting, passive wing-reconfiguration process.

The UAV advantage

However, there is a limit to how far large commercial aircraft can go in imitating the behaviour of birds, as such avian manoeuvres as swooping and diving are not compatible with the comfort and safety of passengers. Commercial aircraft may also be too

University of Tokyo/YouTube large for morphing wings to safely maintain rigidity. The same issues also apply to crewed military Researchers from MIT are working on a project aircraft which, although they are small enough which makes the whole wing the mechanism so to maintain structural integrity and pilots can be that its shape can be changed and twisted uniformly protected using safety restraints and G-suits, can along its length by activating two small motors that still not shift about the sky in the same way as a bird apply a twisting pressure to each wing tip. Research can. is also being conducted into the construction of No such restrictions need apply to unpiloted wings (and other structures) from ‘digital materials’ aircraft which can be both small enough to maintain – tiny, lightweight structural pieces which can be structural integrity and can make manoeuvres assembled into an infinite variety of shapes using without regard to pilot safety. UAVs have also been miniature robots that would crawl along or inside used as the testing ground for morphing and smart the structure as it took shape. Structures created structures. using this method are said to have an exceptional Researchers have developed various expanding combination of strength, low weight and flexibility. wing UAVs. A paper published in the RAeS’ The NASA Ames’ composite Unlike the construction of composite wings which Aeronautical Journal in January 2021 looked at a cellular material morphing requires specialised equipment for layering and Chinese proposal for a ‘smart morphing’ UAV which wing can twist and move hardening the material, new modular structures could extend range on military reconnaissance without the need for wing could be rapidly manufactured in mass quantities and surveillance missions. Fitted with self-sensing flaps or ailerons. and assembled robotically. and adaptive control abilities, the UAV can change Researchers at the University of Tokyo have Smart materials can also incorporate embedded shape autonomously to different wing geometries, created the DRAGON sensors to provide built-in structural quality depending on flight tasks and flight environments. (Dual-Rotor embedded assessment capabilities. Typical smart structure The control system of the UAV is based on particle multilink robot with the sensors include: fibre optics and piezoelectric swarm optimisation, an intelligent algorithm Ability of multi-deGree- ceramics and polymers. Such structures could then designed to imitate the foraging behaviour of birds. of-freedom aerial sense external stimuli and respond with active The morphing is achieved through the continuous transformatiON) snake-like control. deformation of the wing, changing camber, span drone which can twist and bend at any angle to pass In 2017, a team at NASA’s Ames Research and sweep angle using compliant runners driven by through narrow spaces. Center named MADCAT (Mission Adaptive Digital linear ultrasonic motors. Composite Aerostructure Technologies) working in Morphing solutions are not limited to drones collaboration with students from the Massachusetts with conventional wings but also to hovering Institute of Technology (MIT), Cornell University, UC designs. Researchers have been investigating how Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis created an shape-changing drones could be used to conduct ultra-light wing that can actively change shape. The surveys or reconnaissance missions which involve wing was constructed from advanced carbon fibre passing through confined spaces. These include composite materials, assembled into a lattice and quadcopters which can contract their rotor arms to fitted with actuators to enable it to morph and twist. fit through narrow gaps, drones which can assume In 2019, MIT announced that it had, together different shapes and linked rotary wing drones with NASA, built and tested an aeroplane wing, which can fly snake-like in a straight line or wrap assembled from tiny subassemblies into a themselves around objects to lift them.

An extended version of this article can be found in the AEROSPACE Blog and App.

APRIL 2021 37 AIR TRANSPORT Future of civil aviation Zeroavia

Reimagining the future of civil aviation JIM ANGUS FRAeS, Commercial Director, IVHM Centre, and IAIN GRAY FRAeS, Director of Aerospace, Cranfield, report from the first of a series of virtual summits held by Cranfield University which look at the opportunities for the international aerospace industry in the post-Covid world.

or all the financial stresses of the The event focused on the core issues: what are ZeroAvia’s hydrogen fuel Covid-19 pandemic on civil aviation, the short, medium and long-term challenges? Can cell prototype, in the form the crisis period is also a once-in-a- we still reach the net zero-carbon targets for 2050, of a six-seat Piper M-Class aircraft, at Cranfield. generation opportunity. despite the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic? While operations are stalled and Together, how can the future of civil aviation be Fbroken up there is the space and momentum for reimagined? fundamental changes in direction. In other words, As part of his contribution to the summit, the chance to introduce changes that were already Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport, necessary for sustainability – for meeting the 2050 emphasised that the civil aviation sector had just net zero-carbon emissions targets – and for building 30 years to revolutionise air travel, to reform and a more resilient and profitable sector. modernise the airspace and turn zero-carbon aircraft However, for the opportunity not to be lost in into a commercial reality. disparate or conflicting attitudes, approaches and The minister set out how he wants the UK to technologies, there is an urgent need for a shared become a hotbed for design, manufacture and use agenda, a sense of direction and new partnership. of clean aircraft in the 21st Century. The UK must This need was the driving force behind the first of share, he said, in an industry that could be worth a series of virtual summits led by Cranfield University £4tn globally by 2050. In 2019 the government (16 October 2020) that brought together decision- announced a £300m joint investment with industry makers, opinion-influencers and policymakers from in the Future Flight Challenge to fund electric global industry, governments and academia. plane innovation and research into other forms of

38 AEROSPACE aviation technology. A further £2bn is being invested easyJet fleet was grounded for 11 weeks during in aviation research and technology through the European lockdown, returning to around 40% Aerospace Technology Institute programme – part of capacity in the summer due to the opening of some which involves Cranfield’s work on a groundbreaking travel corridors. The airline is not expecting to return project to make electrically-powered commercial to 2019 levels of service until at least 2023. flights a reality in the UK within two years. The Despite the crisis, she explained how easyJet minister flagged other examples of world-leading had continued with its commitment to sustainability, UK innovation, such as the world’s first hydrogen fuel reducing carbon emissions and stimulating carbon cell powered flight of a commercial-grade aircraft by innovation. Given its low-cost carrier business ZeroAvia at Cranfield’s global research airport. model, there has always been a concerted focus on forensically tracking and improving fuel efficiency. Industry resolve With fuel efficiency improving by more than one third between 2000 and 2019, the introduction Brian Pearce, Chief Economist at IATA, confirmed of A320neo aircraft into the fleet since 2017 has the unprecedented level of impact on commercial created a 15% fuel efficiency increase, as well as air travel, the worst since WW2. In April 2020 the being 50% quieter than the previous generation number of global passenger kilometres flown was aircraft they replaced. More neo aircraft are due to 94% down in comparison to 2019, seeing very little enter the fleet over the next few years, albeit with improvement by August 2020. For the air cargo a deferral of a number of new aircraft due to the sector the picture was very different, a shortage impact of Covid-19. EasyJet’s board decided in of capacity rather than a shortage of demand, 2019 to invest in immediate measures to mitigate as nations looked to secure emergency medical the airline’s carbon footprint via offsetting – 20% in supplies and global supply chains. renewables, and the majority in nature-based carbon Pearce predicted that recovery in air travel would credits in the form of reforestation, afforestation be slow even with the mass availability of vaccines. and avoided deforestation. However, Jane Ashton Economic scarring from what will be the biggest acknowledges that offsetting could only be an recession since the 1930s will mean we cannot interim measure; the primary focus needed to be on expect a recovery of the industry until 2024, he told new technology adoption. The concern, in the short the summit. There have been few failing businesses to medium term, was that airlines and manufacturers so far, mainly due to government cash aid in various would struggle financially to invest in cleaner forms – but with airlines not expecting to turn cash technology. positive until 2022 and passenger recovery set to be very slow, there remains a high likelihood of The canary in a coal mine business failures. This matters for policymakers, he emphasised, because, air transport is more than just Covid-19 is like a canary in a coal mine, said another business: it provides the bridges that rapidly Jonathan Counsell, Group Head of Sustainability for connect cities across the globe, making fundamental IAG and Chair of IATA Sustainability & Environment pathways for trade, people, investment, competition, Advisory Council. It is a demonstration of the scale knowledge transfer and innovation. of disruption that can be caused by naturally- occurring events – and a warning about the even Low-cost carrier perspective bigger threat posed by climate change. He set out the impact on IAG and the particular damage from An industry perspective came from Jane Ashton, depreciation costs of aircraft. In a single quarter, who joined easyJet as Head of Sustainability just IAG had seen a £2.4bn fall in profits. The group had weeks before the first UK lockdown. The whole planned for delivery of 143 new aircraft by 2022, Cranfield University

Cranfield’s new DARTeC (Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre) is set to open later this year.

APRIL 2021 39 AIR TRANSPORT Future of civil aviation

Ralf Manteufel/Wikipedia Ralf 2050 vision

A vision for 2050 of seamless, safe and sustainable air travel was set out by Professor Graham Braithwaite, Director of Transport Systems at Cranfield. Realising this vision, he said, meant looking at all the components of the industry and how they interact, what Cranfield terms as the four As: Airspace, Aircraft, Airports and Airlines. A holistic view is needed that also takes into account the whole air travel experience, including how people EAG travel to and from airports: how to make it enjoyable, safe and sustainable. Cranfield’s Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC) is being used to test technologies for touchless passenger transfer, as well as, for example, simulating experiences for those who find travel challenging, for example disabled passengers or the elderly. The centre’s rapid testing and simulation capabilities are being used to model digital twins and test the interconnected air transport management system. Our airspace needs a fundamental redesign, he said, to cope with growth but also to cope with other users in the same now reduced to 75, with the group also looking at airspace. We need to adapt air traffic management early retirement of 53 long-haul aircraft. At the same systems to allow for point-to-point flying. time, climate change commitments were still high Professor Braithwaite emphasised the on the group’s agenda, with three targets: a carbon importance of business transformation and efficiency target by 2025, reduction in net emissions managing innovation – the challenges would not be by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050. solved just through engineering and science. One Owain Jones, Managing Director of Wizz Air airline, for example, has ambitiously stated its dream UK, described how the business was diversifying to is for passengers to spend just three to four minutes deal with cost pressures: reviewing its network and in terminals of the future but the question is how do schedule and identifying and opening up 12 new we pay for this and make it sustainable? bases across Europe and 200 new routes. There is the need for slot reform, he argued, with Europe Reimagining the future The past and present of UK making up half of the world’s most congested airliners? airports – a crunch that is hampering competition, The second half of the summit was an interactive Above top: British limiting air connectivity and passenger choice. There forum where a range of contributors from industry, European Airways (BEA) was a case, in this context, for incentivising green government and academia shared their views on Comet 4B arriving at Berlin operations and those airlines which were most aviation for 2050. The main threads were: Tempelhof Airport in 1969. efficient. Above lower: HERA is a  How disruptive technologies must be used, 70-seat hybrid-electric airliner concept from Digital cargo particularly for short-haul flights; electric for Electric Aviation Group. shorter-range journeys, providing a huge benefit Below: The UK Secretary The need for digitalisation of cargo journeys has in terms of noise pollution, and hybrid electric of State for Transport, been amplified by the pandemic, said Vladimir increasing the range length further. Grant Shapps. Zubkov, advisor to The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA). Documentation handover Gov/Crown copyright UK can contribute to the spread of the virus, so digital transfer and contactless movement is important, just as much as it is on the passenger side. Zubkov explained how cloud-based applications for airport communities are helping formerly fragmented air cargo communities (including shippers, carriers and customs) to work together using consistent data. There is a need for innovation, he said, particularly digitalisation and training of people, in order to respond to the current challenge and prepare for the future.

40 AEROSPACE easyJet easyJet

1. Being active and engaged in societal dialogues Above: Alaska Airlines’ around what we do and how we do it. aircraft cleaning. Right: EasyJet future That means accepting different perspectives of electric passenger aircraft aviation and engaging in the debates on vaccines concept. and quarantine; talking about aviation’s role in the climate emergency; and including opening up  How sustainable aviation fuels will be the primary dialogue around why we are not managing airspace decarbonisation route for long haul, with nuclear better and not moving aircraft around on the being a potential source of e-fuels. Small nuclear ground more efficiently. Also, working with national reactors can drive the price of electricity down, authorities to ensure the industry can maximise the creating an economic pathway to produce efficiency of production of sustainable fuels – as sustainable aviation fuels from low-cost nuclear there will be key governmental decisions to come on to hit 2050 targets. the rate of relative support for sustainable aviation  One of the main outcomes from the pandemic fuels compared with kerosene. will be a global agreement and approach to 2. Remaining competitive and solvent. sanitisation and security before getting on an aircraft. There will also be an impact on business How the sector must find ways to maintain its travel, with virtual conferencing used to a greater research base, innovation, disruptive technologies degree. and supply chains in the face of the pandemic. Losing these will be a huge benefit to Asian  How we need to employ innovative solutions providers. The Asian aviation market has responded across the product cycle to increase efficiency. differently to the pandemic and has now almost  T hat, ultimately, there are enormous technological recovered to pre Covid-19 levels. The right decisions challenges ahead that we must overcome. The need to be made quickly, he said. right thing for the industry and academia to do is to keep pushing technology, to take risks and 3. Considering how we work together more strive for zero emissions. effectively in the wider environment. The industry needs to get through this short-term In his keynote, Sir Martin Donnelly, President of cash squeeze, but in the medium term needs to Boeing Europe and Managing Director UK, said that support the globalisation of economic activity the industry had to accept its lack of control over through open research and the movement of people some of the short and long-term influences that and data, as a means of protecting trade relations. determine the outcomes for our industry but, at the More active dialogue will be needed across the same time, recognise aviation’s place among societal globe, particularly with China, and with all forms of priorities. Aviation represents far more than going regulators, not just in aviation. For example, can we from point to point. It remains a huge driver of the create a shared virus management system to create global service economy and has long been a reliable a greater degree of transparency on what happens source of technological advancement, particularly with an upsurge of cases? in terms of digital, and our unique value in the In order to keep the future of aviation advanced manufacturing and service economy. debate alive among stakeholders in the UK and Sir Martin concluded with three points he internationally, a follow-up event is planned for believes the industry should be focusing on 2021, focusing on developments in the Asia immediately: Pacific market.

APRIL 2021 41 Military Aerospace and Airworthiness MSc/PgDip/PgCert Part-time

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Diary 13 April 2021 Defence and Security in Difficult Times Sir Brian Burridge, RAeS CEO Boscombe Down Branch online lecture

British and French troops arrive safely onto Salisbury Plain after being delivered to battle by RAF Chinooks during the multinational Exercise Wessex Storm which saw activity on both the ground and in the air by British, French and American paratroopers. UK MoD Crown copyright.

44 Message from RAeS 46 Book Reviews 51 2021 RAeS AGM – President Through Adversity, Fundamentals of International The 2021 Annual General Meeting will be held Aviation Law and Policy and Spy Pilot. virtually on 6 May at 11:45 BST. “Finally, it is great to see that the annual AeroTube competition is back, with the 2021 edition opening on 29 March and closing on 31 May and the 49 Library Additions 52 RAeS Diary winners are announced on 30 June.” Books recently supplied to the National Aerospace Find out what online events are happening. Library. – Chief Executive 54 Obituaries 50 New Member Spotlight “On careers, our new online support platform – Dr Robert Pleming and Frank Rixen. Career Flightpath – is now live. The platform is available via your membership log-in and gives access to a huge range of tools and opportunities...”

APRIL 2021 43 Message from RAeS OUR PRESIDENT

Prof Jonathan Cooper Another busy month, with many activities taking place across all facets of the RAeS’ operation. I represented the Society at a Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRB) Roundtable with the Minister for Universities to discuss the ongoing effects of the pandemic on accredited courses. There was a lot of discussion concerning student and employer confidence in the qualifications that will be awarded this year. My view is that, through a lot of hard work from the academic staff across The Career Flightpath homepage. all our accredited HEIs, coupled with excellent support from the HQ accreditation team, we have maintained the standards in aerospace engineering, have been impressed that the quality of our outputs and related, degree courses from previous years. has remained as good as ever. It was encouraging to We are in a much better place than other disciplines hear of the ongoing co-operation and collaboration where there is a more pressing need for face-to- between Specialist Groups, Local Branches and the face interactions and we won’t need to move to Young Persons Committee (YPC). Much greater extra teaching over the summer months in order to collaboration is required to address the challenges attain the required course content. facing the aerospace and aviation industries, not As also mentioned in the CEO’s Message, the only dealing with the rollout following Brexit and Society continues to make an important contribution lockdown, but also the major challenges required to with helping our members’ careers, supporting them meet climate change and the move towards net zero to find employment in the aerospace and aviation emissions by 2050, areas where the Society must industries. As part of our continuing digital rollout, provide leadership. the new Online Interactive Careers Centre – Career Finally, it is great to see that the annual AeroTube Flightpath (https://raescareerflightpath. competition is back, with the 2021 edition opening careercentre.me/) is now available for RAeS on 29 March and closing on 31 May and the winners members. It is possible to browse hundreds of are announced on 30 June. Driven by the YPC, but eLearning courses and take advantage of the CV open to all members, this video competition is a great builder and other feedback tools. I am sure that this way to engage our members and increase young new platform will be of much use for our members member traffic. Members are invited to produce from across the world, particularly those whose an informative video lasting six to ten minutes on careers have been affected by the pandemic. Free something aerospace or aviation-related. It could to use, the platform includes CV assessments, be anything: a topic you are particularly passionate interview training, aptitude tests, personal about, a project from university or work, trying to development courses and advice 24/7. explain the principles of aerodynamics to novices, As a learned society, the facilitation of the something you have built, findings from research or a AS A LEARNED generation of knowledge is one of our key roles look at new technologies. Entries must be submitted SOCIETY, THE and our Specialist Groups are the main avenue for via the entry form. For further details please email FACILITATION organising conferences, workshops and specialist [email protected]. I am pleased that our meetings as well as producing journal papers and colleagues in RAeS China are proud to support the OF THE other publications. I attended the recent Specialist AeroTube programme by launching a Young Persons GENERATION Groups Spring briefing where the past 12 months, China section and they are hoping to receive OF which have been challenging for everybody, were submissions from this region (both in Chinese and KNOWLEDGE reviewed. The SGs have done a fantastic job English). Support for this activity has so far been adapting and delivering in a virtual world. I have received by the British Council China and other local IS ONE OF OUR attended quite a few conferences and panel aerospace organisations, including the University of KEY ROLES sessions since we moved to a digital delivery and Nottingham Ningbo Campus.

44 OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Sir Brian Burridge ● The publication of the long-awaited Integrated through to balancing working from home with Review of Security, Defence, Development and home-schooling. The vulnerability to furlough Foreign Policy has certainly made an impact. While and redundancy programmes is also a factor. the tyranny of our print deadlines prevents my Nevertheless, women have risen to the challenge commenting now on the forthcoming Defence but the sector risks losing the incremental gains in Command Paper, there are already some gender balance that have taken so long to achieve. encouraging pointers. Recognition at last that This year’s IWD theme was ‘Choose to Challenge’ the UK’s science and technology ecosystem is and Marnie challenged industry leaders to embed a strategic national resource that has to be both diversity and inclusion in the recovery, to continue nurtured and funded from end-to-end is welcome, reporting gender pay gap statistics and actively as is the focus on climate change. The promise of support women’s retention and progression across a revised defence and security industrial strategy the sector in order to challenge stereotypes and which embraces the prosperity agenda and moves build back better. In this respect, we are fortunate away from the 2012 policy of ‘competition by that Professor Dawn Bonfield, the Royal Academy default’ with its associated bogus definition of of Engineering Visiting Professor of Inclusive value-for-money is a significant step forward. Engineering at Aston University, will be addressing Recognition in the review of the rapidly growing Corporate Partners on 24 May on ‘Magnificent importance of the space sector through the Women’ as a precursor to International Women in creation of an integrated military and civil space Engineering Day. strategy which has long been one of our ‘asks’ is ● On careers, our new online support platform – also very welcome, as is confirmation of funding Career Flightpath – is now live. The platform is for FCAS/Tempest. I will publish more analysis in a available via your membership log-in and gives blog immediately after the release of the Defence access to a huge range of tools and opportunities, Command Paper (see ‘By the Numbers’, p 10). including an AI-based CV reviewer, interviews, ● Another annual event has gone virtual this year aptitude tests and hundreds of courses and with the Society’s Young Persons Committee development programmes which are designed running a very successful AeroChallenge quiz, to help you prepare for a range of employment attracting a global audience of 260 participants. scenarios, from job search and applications, Teams and individual entrants came from a range through to personal development and mental of international universities and well-known health. The Society will still offer our unique companies, plus teams from our Divisions in personalised careers support from the team, with both Pakistan and South Africa. The event was 1-2-1s still available. We hope that the platform enriched by speakers from Leonardo: Lynda will support members both now and when the McVay, Director Skills and Capability UK, and recovery arrives, bringing with it a new sense Yeovil Branch member, Olivia Gribler, a Leonardo of urgency to recruitment and selection. For business graduate. The scores were very tight further details on CareerFlightpath and the alta and the design challenge submissions were of mentoring programme, please contact careers@ a really high standard. Ultimately, there were aerosociety.com. two individual winners, Ella Senior from Oxford ● Finally, please look at the Annual General Meeting University and Ryan Ross from BAE Systems with notice on p 51 which outlines how the meeting the team prize going to BAE-Blades. Our thanks to will be run, given continuing Covid uncertainty. On all the participants and especially to Leonardo for 6 May, the AGM will be preceded by a Special generously sponsoring AeroChallenge. General Meeting at 1100 BST which has been ● The Society marked International Women’s Day called by the Trustees to hear recommended (IWD) on 8 March with a special webinar from amendments to the By-Laws. The calling notice ON CAREERS, the Society’s Women in Aerospace & Aviation for the SGM will be published at the end of March OUR NEW Committee and the alta mentoring steering group. and will include details of the meeting resolutions. The event focused on the impact of the pandemic Lumi Global will be managing both meetings and ONLINE on female pilots, the positive steps they have taken will provide full platform details. You can submit SUPPORT to connect and support each other and the power any questions in advance so it will be worth having PLATFORM of mentoring, ‘A Story for all Women’ told by airline a look at the platform as soon as you get your – CAREER captain and Society Fellow Marnie Munns. The log-on credentials. In addition, given the uncertain impact of the pandemic on women is becoming Covid environment, the Trustees have agreed that FLIGHTPATH – IS clear, from pressures arising from continuing the 2021 Annual Banquet will not now take place NOW LIVE to work in the unique Covid environment in May.

APRIL 2021 45 Book Reviews THROUGH ADVERSITY The British and the Commonwealth War in the Air 1939-45. Volume 1 By Ben Kite

Helion & Company Limited, Unit 8 Amherst Business Centre, Budbrooke Road, Warwick CV34 5WE, UK. 2019. Distributed by Casemate, 10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EW, UK. 492pp. Illustrated. £29.95. ISBN 978-1-912866-23-6.

Sometimes, it takes a long view from someone without ‘skin in the game’ to provide a different insight into a hallowed subject. In this book, Through Adversity – part of the Royal Air Force’s motto – we have a senior British Army officer applying his logical brain to a complex historical episode, and well he does it too. Above: Short Sunderland of and offensive geographical position, where again Through Adversity is Volume 1 of two books 10 Squadron RAAF operating good use is made of contemporary reports on which bring Ben Kite’s research and analysis to life. with Coastal Command in 1941. RAeS (NAL). such operations as the Battle of Taranto. The The author takes his research from the founding of same technique is well used throughout the book the Royal Air Force and its use of reserves with a and nowhere so well as the chapters on the Far unique portrayal of the system which allowed a pool East. Often neglected by historians, the losses of, predominantly, fighter pilots to be ready for the caused by the lightning advance of the Japanese outbreak of war in 1939. are highlighted as a reflection of London’s almost A striking quote right at the beginning of the racist attitude to the Imperial capabilities which introduction sets the tone for the narrative. It comes resulted in some almost ludicrous analysis of from Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John the Japanese fighting capability. With no radar Slessor, well-regarded today as a thinking officer, and obsolete fighters, there was very little hope who says: “Before 1939 we really knew nothing for the defenders of Singapore. Ben Kite neatly about air warfare.” So, this book can be regarded segues into the next phase in the Far East, as a journey for the RAF from limited abilities to looking at and giving due prominence to the probably the best equipped and manned air force Australians and the Fleet Air Arm. This book is, in the world in 1945. Slessor had learned through after all, about air power and about the role of the adversity. He had learned from disasters over Commonwealth. France and the early bombing campaigns against Bomber Command gets good and insightful Germany, and how to integrate a citizen force with coverage. The debate over area bombing versus county Auxiliary squadrons, short service volunteers precision effects at range, like the Augsburg raid and regulars – many of those from the ‘old’ of 1942 and the Dam Busters in 1943 finds Commonwealth of Australia, Canada, New Zealand the author not taking sides but giving excellent and South Africa. analysis of the route out and the strike, including an Ben Kite takes the reader through the RAF of unusually full account of a typical bomber mission. the time. Through the efficient training system – the This is a book He concludes the sequence with a description of saviour of Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain the return leg for the bomber’s crew once weapons which is also covered with a new light shone on it. of immense have been released and gives unusual detail of the The battle is well covered without any sentimentality value with approach and landing. The developing precision and includes some excellent verbatim from pilots. good, clearly attack capabilities rate their own chapter illustrated Ben Kite also brings the air defence of Great Britain argued logic. It with more excellent quality Air Historical Branch neatly together in his approach to the story of photographs – where have they been hidden all night fighters and countering the V1 flying bombs. should be part these years, we might ask? His narrative helps to understand the connection of any library Often relegated topics in air power history, between anti-aircraft artillery – ‘Ack-Ack’ – and for the study Coastal Command, where the risks and likelihood of balloons and reminds the reader that the RAF of air power death were often as high as the much-fêted Bomber Regiment played its part. Command statistics, are put into perspective. That other defence of a fortress island, the in its historical Coastal Command and the Fleet Air Arm were Battle for Malta, is well described for its defensive context woefully unprepared for WW2, both victims of the

46 AEROSPACE internecine warfare between the services in the is enhanced by excellent maps which are clear and 1930s. There was also, the author reminds us, concise, and by access to the best set of wartime the overwhelming belief in the new surface ship photographs seen for a long time. The author has technologies which would mean that the Royal Navy the Air Historical Branch to thank for the pictures would have the upper hand against the main threat, and the access to records which allow accurate the German submarine. As the author says: “by and relevant quotes to be peppered throughout the 1944, the Fleet Air Arm was almost unrecognisable text but used only where they amplify or enhance from its 1939 forebears…” the narrative. The book’s value is enhanced by the There are interesting and little-known facts detailed appendices, many drawn from primary, which come out too; merchant aircraft carriers, MAC sources as well as publications from the immediate ships, made an incredible 323 Atlantic crossings in post-war period that will have passed by many 24 months from May 1943. This fact, when linked researchers. to Map 12b, enables the Battle of the Atlantic’s This is a book of immense value with good, importance to be better understood. clearly argued logic. It should be part of any library The development of Coastal Command technical for the study of air power in its historical context. It capabilities, as well as the operational art generated, will no doubt find its way on to the Chief of the Air which laid the foundations for the Royal Air Force’s Staff’s recommended reading list, especially as Air prowess in the Cold War, shared with Canada Chief Marshal Mike Wigston wrote the foreword. and Australia, although from the British side, it is probably needing to be rebuilt in this century. Paul Beaver Utility of air power is well served by this book. It FRAeS

FUNDAMENTALS OF INTERNATIONAL AVIATION LAW AND POLICY By Benjamyn I Scott and Andrea Trimarchi

Routledge, 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon OX14 4RN, UK. 2019. xxix; 297pp. Illustrated. £32.99. [20% discount available to RAeS members via www.crcpress.com using AKQ07 promotion code]. ISBN 978-1-138-58880-6.

The latest publication of the ‘Aviation Fundamentals’ series aims to provide an engaging introduction to Narita International Airport, The publication presents international aviation international aviation law. To achieve such an aim, Japan. Marek Slusarczyk. law in a way that balances ‘depth of content with the services of two promising aviation lawyers – ease of readability’. It is relevant for entry-level Benjamyn I Scott and Andrea Trimarchi – are used, students of aviation with interest in (but not who bring a refreshing approach to the analysis of necessarily background knowledge of) law. It is black-letter aviation laws. written in plain English and the text is accompanied The publication is divided into 12 parts that by several helpful diagrams and explanatory examine selective aspects of international aviation sections. For the curious minded, the publication law. Following the introductory Chapters (Chapters provides a set of thought-provoking questions 1-2), the publication covers the basics of public and a list of reading materials at the end of each international air law, namely the Chicago Convention chapter. Furthermore, the publication is a valuable 1944, the structure and decision-making of supportive aid to teachers. It can be used as a ICAO and key aspects of air services agreements starting reference for students, as well as a map (Chapter 3 to 5). for designing lectures, especially when both public It then moves to a review of the aviation security The publication and private law aspects are to be covered in the conventions (Chapter 6), followed by three chapters presents same course. This reviewer can only propose that a (Chapters 7 to 9) on fundamental private law international chapter on aircraft finance is included in the second issues, namely the legal framework of passenger edition of the publication. and third parties’ claims against airlines and the aviation law All in all, the book is highly recommended for insurance issues underlying such claims. Chapters in a way that use by ‘teachers and for youth beginning their 10 and 11 deal with competition law in the aviation balances ‘depth journeys in aviation’. industry and the regulation of environmental issues, of content respectively. The concluding Chapter (Chapter 12) Dr George Leloudas investigates the future and introduces suborbital with ease of Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law transportation and its legal implications. readability’ Swansea University

APRIL 2021 47 - Book Reviews SPY PILOT Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 Incident and a Controversial Cold War Legacy By Francis Gary Powers Jr and Keith Dunnavant

Prometheus Books, 59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228, USA. 2019. 296pp. ISBN 978-1-63384694 (e-book) ISBN 978-1-633884687 (hardcover).

I found this a very interesting and well researched book. After Francis Gary Powers The mystery of the actual event when Powers It is written by Keith Dunnavant and Francis was shot down over the was over Sverdlovsk remains. If, for example, the Gary Powers Junior, the son of the ill-fated Soviet Union during a CIA spy flight on 1 May 1960, aircraft was spinning out of control and the G-forces Lockheed U-2 pilot shot down near Sverdlovsk in NASA issued a press release precluded, in Power’s mind, ejection, how did he 1960. There is a forward by Nikita Khrushchev’s with a cover story about a U-2 overcome these forces to release from the seat and son Sergei and, as expected, the book seems intent conducting weather research climb out of a cramped cockpit in order to parachute to bring honour to the USSR and to Francis Gary that may have strayed off to safety? This is not explained in the book but none course after the pilot reported Powers, whom many felt had let the side down difficulties with his oxygen can argue that such a feat was impossible. Only during his capture and the show trial that followed. equipment. To bolster the Powers knew the actual truth. Then there is the The story describes the nature and background cover-up, a U-2 was quickly question of how the camera magazines remained of Powers prior to his pilot training with the USAF painted in NASA markings, intact after such a catastrophic descent and how with a fictitious NASA serial and his subsequent enrolment as a CIA U-2 pilot. number, and put on display for the Soviets processed the special film used, when it Clearly, he was an ordinary boy from farming country the news media at the NASA was rumoured only Kodak Eastman had the secret who did not have an Ivy-League level of education Flight Research Center at technical know-how. This all adds to the mystery and but loved flying and the life that surrounded it. Edwards Air Force Base on 6 controversy that will continue. The narrative is very personal and contains many May, above. The NASA cover Whatever happened, as the book explains, there story quickly blew up in the letters from Frank Powers to his wife and family agency’s face when both Gary followed a plethora of claims and counter-claims. and the responses to those letters. From these one Powers and aircraft wreckage It was clearly to the Soviet advantage to have the can gather that he had a very troubled married life were displayed by the Soviet U-2 shot down at 70,000ft by their improved SAM prior to his flight, and this begs the question as to Union, proving that it was a systems, thus, preserving sovereignty over their reconnaissance aircraft. This his mental suitability to participate in such a mission caused embarrassment for territory. Equally it was to the CIA’s advantage to at a time when it seems Soviet surface-to-air several top NASA officials. show that they hadn’t obtained authorisation for a missile (SAM) technology was accelerating. These NASA. flight, when they knew, or at least suspected, that family difficulties followed him after repatriation in the planned altitude was vulnerable. Powers was, exchange for Colonel Rudolf Abel. Nevertheless, the as the book shows, the ‘piggy in the middle’ of all of CIA seemed (in the book) to have been content to this. allow the flight to proceed and thus meet, in their The authors have gathered a lot of data and view, clear intelligence imperatives regarding an provided a good reference index to support their ICBM gap. Whatever the truth about the dialogue claims that Powers was truthful and not a traitor to that went on between the CIA and the White House, his country. Yet there will still be conspiracy theorists the flight was authorised. The story who believe otherwise. As the book shows, following The book covers the events surrounding the the author’s energetic pursuit of his father’s honour, point of shoot-down, the interrogation and the trial describes the many awards and concessions were forthcoming – in as much detail as possible. Despite this, the nature and albeit grudgingly. possibility for various explanations of the true event background of In summary, and as mentioned above, it is an remain. Powers prior interesting book that covers the Powers family The aftermath of the incident clearly had a perspectives on an international Cold War incident mixed impact upon public opinion and this in turn to his pilot and, as such, is of interest to all aviation and political appears from the book to have sullied further the training with history aficionados. personal relationships between Francis Powers, his the USAF and family and friends. his subsequent Geoffrey Oxlee There would seem to be no doubt that he died OBE feeling he had been unfairly crucified by some parts enrolment as a Former Commanding Officer of The Joint Air of the system. CIA U-2 pilot Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre

48 AEROSPACE - Library Additions BOOKS

AIR POWER decisions are given. It also development and service of the contains copies of diagrams, Russian two-seat interceptor. The future of NATO graphs and cutaways produced Also includes information airpower: how are future by the manufacturers. The about the later variants and capabilities within the item was designed as a guide a guide to the aircraft, both alliance diverging and how to a case study as a part of inside and outside the cockpit. can interoperability be Kingston University’s BEng (Hons) Aerospace students. maintained by Justin Bronk, BN-2 Islander: 50 years on, RUSI, 2019, 73pp. a brief history of Britten- A review of NATO ‘Bloody Paralyser’: The Norman by B Wealthy and A Handley Page Type ‘O’ members’ actual and projected Wright, Britten-Norman Aircraft Macchi C.205V of 352nd Squadron at Capoterra, Sardinia, in twin engine bomber by A H Preservation Society, 2015, capabilities. After reviewing July 1943. Aeronautica Militare. the homegrown problems Fraser-Mitchell, 2010, 18pp. 23pp. and the alliance’s adversaries, A history of the Handley A short history of Britten- the paper groups together Page O/100 and O/400 Norman, highlighting early the medium nations and the bombers. projects, the BN-2 Islander and smaller states and examines the BN-3 Nymph. Advanced STOL aircraft: by F W Page, 1981?, 39pp. the position of the ‘big player’, Fan lift, mechanical flap, A lecture script with slides the US. The Britten-Norman augmenter wing, externally which predicts developments BN-2A Mk.III Trislander: a blow flap, Hawker Siddeley in the aviation sector up to AIRCRAFT HISTORIES triumph of ingenuity, Solent Aviation Limited, 1973?, 1 v. 2000, including aeroplanes, Aeromarine Enterprise, 2nd An internal guide to four helicopters, guided weapons Case study 1: The Harrier edition, 2011, 16pp. civil aircraft concepts pursued and space design. The lecture family by A H Fraser-Mitchell, A short history of by the Hatfield Division of was delivered to the Open Hawker Siddeley Aviation. Kingston University, 1993, 1 v. G-ATWU, which was a University’s Conference converted Britten-Norman on future developments in Written by one of the BN-2 Mk III Islander put into technology in 2000. engineers behind the project, Concorde: Airport noise a three-engined configuration the item is a discussion and silencing programme, concept. on the background to the Société Nationale Industrielle People in aerospace: development of the Harrier Aérospatiale and Rolls-Royce Meeting today’s from the design point of view. Veltro: 1942-1981 by (1971) Ltd, October 1972, challenges by Frank Turner, The implications of using a Aeronautica Macchi, 86pp. Lucas Industries, 1995, 24pp. vectored thrust engine for Mikoyan MiG-31: The full Aeronautica Macchi, 1981, An illustrated version an aircraft are explored and story of the Foxhound by 43pp. PRODUCTION & of the 1995 Brabazon some of the features of the Y Gordon and D Komissarov, A history in Italian of the MANAGEMENT Lecture which suggested aircraft are described. As Hikoki, 2020, 320pp. Macchi C.205V, containing the motivations behind those far as possible, the reasons A beautifully illustrated a selection of archives from Future developments in employed in the aerospace underlying the various design guide to the history, across the years. aerospace technology engineering sector.

To borrow these and thousands of other titles contact the National Aerospace Library. E [email protected] W www.aerosociety.com/catalogue

NATIONAL AEROSPACE LIBRARY

The NAL remains closed to visitors. However, online services are available so you can continue to browse the catalogue and download e-books and e-journals, as well as contact our expert Librarian for advice and enquiries. E [email protected] NAL www.aerosociety.com/nal Catalogue www.aerosociety.com/catalogue Sound Archive www.aerosociety.com/podcast Film Archive www.aerosociety.com/movies e-library www.aerosociety.com/elibrary

APRIL 2021 49 NEW MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Name: Siva Marimuthu MRAeS, 30 prove to them that ‘it doesn’t matter where are you Location: Nilai, Malaysia from, you will be recognised when you keep on doing the right thing’. As a mentor, this recognition Job Title: Senior Lecturer, Nilai University, would give me more confidence to bring out the Malaysia. best in students. Additionally, this membership What inspired you into aerospace? Since would help me to update my knowledge on the childhood, I have been very fond of aeroplanes. current events in aerospace. Whenever an aeroplane flew over my house, I was What three items would you take with you to on the street and watched the flight until it faded away from sight. I want to see what is in it and fly the Space Station? My family photo, camera and in it. That curiosity made me enter into this field. a fantasy book. What is the best thing about your current What’s your favourite aircraft? I like the role? Sharing knowledge is a good thing. I am Supermarine Spitfire, Grumman X-29 and Sukhoi teaching modules such as aerospace technology, Su47 for their different wing planforms but my aviation safety, engine operation, and supervising favourite aircraft is the supersonic passenger many students’ projects at NU. It gives me a better Concorde. opportunity to work with students and staff from Who is your biggest inspiration? I was inspired different countries. The best thing is that I have by Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, Former President of the chance to develop a new programme called India. His humble social background, achievements ‘Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering Technology’, in the Indian Space Research Organization, vision successfully. about India, kindness, and simplicity, collectively What made you join the Royal Aeronautical inspired me a lot. Although, he was a scientist Society? I feel recognised, globally. I was cum politician, he travelled all over the country and attracted by its monthly magazine. Every month, inspired many younger minds until he died. I share it with my students to spread knowledge Piece of advice for someone looking to enter in aerospace. I obtained MRAeS membership to your field?My philosophy is ‘Think 1,000 times widen my network connections. before you decide but once decided get it done’. What do you hope to get out of your If you are interested in this field, then don’t give membership and CEng registration? With up until you reach your destination. To become MRAeS membership and CEng registration, I an educator, develop your skills related to both would like to inspire every student in my class and teaching and research.

2021 RAeS COUNCIL ELECTIONS HAVE YOU VOTED IN THE RAeS COUNCIL ELECTION 2021 YET?

The Royal Aeronautical Society Council Election please contact our election provider, mi-voice, on Thank you for 2021 is open for voting. All voting members who +44 (0)845 241 4148 (we would advise that you taking the time have an email address registered with the Society check your email account’s junk folder, in case your to vote in the will have received an email notice enabling you to email settings determine the email as being spam). vote. If you believe that you are a voting member 2021 Council but did not receive an email, or you do not have a Please note that the voting will close at Elections valid email address registered with the Society, then 9.00am BST on Thursday, 6 May 2021.

50 AEROSPACE 2021 RAeS AGM The 2021 Annual General Meeting

Important changes to Annual General The 2021 Annual General Meeting will be held Meeting arrangements in light of the virtually on 6 May 2021 at 11:45 BST. At the time of coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. the publication date of this notice, the government’s Roadmap on easing lockdown is based on a four- Covid-19 and its economic fallout disrupted the step approach with restrictions on public gatherings Society’s significant 2020 events, one of which was and non-essential travel. Even if there is some the AGM which was frustrated because we had change in easing restrictions, it is likely that advice no alternative but to run a live meeting. The future will remain in place to limit sizeable gatherings. As remains challenging in terms of the continuing such, this meeting will be held virtually. impact of Covid-19. The vaccination programme We have planned these meetings to enable has to be balanced against the potential for further participation in the meeting remotely which can be coronavirus variants and there are now firmer (but done by logging on to Lumi’s website (https:// downbeat) predictions on economic growth. Taken web.lumiagm.com). Lumi Global will provide together, we are now facing a more stable backdrop members with their credentials for logging on to against which to plan the Society’s significant the platform and how to submit any questions in 2021 events. In so doing, it is clear that we need advance of the meeting. to exercise maximum caution, generate minimum While this is not the way we would usually financial risk and manage membership expectations. interact with our members at such meetings, it is the Inevitably, Covid-19 will continue to have an safest approach for our colleagues and our members. impact on how we run this year’s Annual General The minutes of the 154th Annual General Meeting Meeting in a manner that our members are can be accessed on the Society’s website accustomed to. As such, we moved ahead with (www.aerosociety.com/about-us/governance/ gaining legal approval required for the running general-meetings), along with the Annual Review of a virtual Annual General Meeting. This is an and the Annual Report and Account 2019 & 2020. If opportunity for you to engage with the Society, you have any queries about the AGM please contact albeit under different circumstances. [email protected].

155th Annual General Meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN for the 155th Annual General Meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society incorporating the Institution of Aeronautical Engineers, the Helicopter Association of Great Britain and the Society of Licensed Aircraft Engineers and Technologists will be held virtually on Thursday, 6 May 2021, at 1145 hours to transact the business, as outlined below. Please note, no physical attendance is permitted.

The business of the AGM: 1. To receive and consider the Minutes of the 154th Annual General Meeting held on 16 May 2019. 2. To receive and consider the Audited Accounts and Report of the Board of Trustees on the state of the Society for the year ending 31 December 2019. 3. To receive and consider the Audited Accounts and Report of the Board of Trustees on the state of the Society for the year ending 31 December 2020. 4. To appoint the auditors for the year 2021. 5. To receive the names of those appointed to the Board of Trustees and those newly elected to the Council for the years 2021- 2022.

APRIL 2021 51 Diary

EVENTS www.aerosociety/events-calendar/

6 April How to become a professionally registered engineer with the Royal Aeronautical Society Online RAeS webinar

13 April Templer Lecture: The Maritime & Coastguard Agency Rebecca Binstead, Policy Directorate Head, MCA Farnborough Branch online Named lecture

13 April Defence and Security in Difficult Times Sir Brian Burridge, Chief Executive, Royal Aeronautical Society Boscombe Down Branch online lecture

14 April Small Modular Reactors Matthew Blake, Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactors Chief Engineer Online lecture

14 April Resurfacing an Operational Military Airfield during a Pandemic Keith Maplethorpe, Project Director, VolkerFitzpatrick Team Scramasaxe, a Highland Branch online lecture participant in Air Race E, 6 May which will become the world’s RAeS SGM and AGM 14 April first all-electric aircraft race Lightning Cold War Warrior when it launches an inaugural 12 May Captain Ian Hollingworth series of international races The Development of the Jaguar Jet Fighter Preston Branch online lecture – is led by Eric de Barberin- Brough Branch online lecture Barberini. Richard Glassock 14 April will discuss the races at 12 May 66th Sir George Cayley Lecture: Air Power, Technology and Loughborough on 4 May. The Fresson Story Maintaining the Competitive Edge Airbus/Hervé de Brus. Highland Branch online lecture David Short, Technology Director, Chief Technology Office, BAE Systems 12 May Brough Branch online Named lecture Team Tempest – the Future of Combat Air Michael Christie, Director Future Combat Air Systems, 20 April BAE Systems – Air Advanced Air Mobility – A New Hope or New Hype? Preston Branch online lecture Clive Lewis, Managing Partner, Achieving the Difference LLP Gloucester and Cheltenham Branch online lecture 13 May The Rolls-Royce Ultrafan Demonstrator Programme 21 April Andrew Geer, Chief Engineer, Ultrafan Demonstrator Lion Air Flight JT610/Boeing B737-8 MAX: A Loss of Control Farnborough Branch online lecture In Flight Accident Case Study Dr Mike Bromfield and Captain Nils Jamieson 17-18 May Coventry Branch online lecture Maintaining Wellbeing: Opening up in the maintenance environment 22 April Online RAeS conference Hypersonic Vehicle Development, Past, Present and Future David Hayes, Principle Mechanical Engineer 19-20 May Cambridge Branch online lecture UK in the 2020s – An Emerging Space Power Online RAeS conference 27-28 April Mental Wellbeing and Human Performance: Moving beyond 27 May Regulatory Compliance Trenchard Lecture: Torn Curtain – How Bomber Command Online RAeS conference Pioneered Electronic Warfare Dr Thomas Withington 4 May Online Named lecture Air Race E – Propulsion Futures Richard Glassock, Research Fellow, Hybrid and Electric Propulsion Systems for Aircraft, Nottingham University Loughborough Branch online lecture

For further information and booking: www.aerosociety.com/events-calendar/

52 AEROSPACE THE AERONAUTICAL NOW FREE JOURNAL TO ALL RAeS Covering all aspects of aerospace MEMBERS!

Editor-in-Chief Professor Holger Babinsky FRAeS University of Cambridge, UK

Chair of the Editorial Board Professor Mike Graham FREng FRAeS Imperial College London, UK

Deputy Chair of the Editorial Board Professor Chris Atkin CEng FRAeS University of East Anglia, UK

We have exciting news for readers of The Aeronautical Journal. The Royal Aeronautical Society, in partnership with its co-publishers, Cambridge University Press, has taken the decision to make The Aeronautical Journal available, free of charge, to all members of The RAeS from January 2021. As part of these changes, the RAeS will no longer offer the journal in printed form. If you had subscribed to The Aeronautical Journal, you will not have had your subscription renewed, instead you are invited to view the Journal and its 124 year old back catalogue for free with the rest of the membership. Members now have free access to the Journal’s dedicated website via a link at: aerosociety.com/aerojournal If you have any questions, or require further support, contact: [email protected]

Get free access to RAeS 150th anniversary issue collection at: cambridge.org/aer/sc

WJD Aero Journal FP Advert 2_2021.indd 2 08/02/2021 16:11 Obituaries DR ROBERT WILLIAM PLEMING Ronnie Macdonald FRAeS 1951-2021 Robert Pleming was born in north-west London. He was awarded an RAF Flying Scholarship at the age of 17 that cemented his lifelong love of aviation. After gaining a BA in Physics and Doctorate at the Department of Nuclear Physics at Oxford University, Robert started a career in IT. He held Avro Vulcan B2 XH558. technical, sales and management roles in IBM, latterly with responsibility for Open Systems in Europe. soon increased the number of committee meetings With a first class honours in Physics and a PhD so that more could be done to raise the profile of in Electronic Techniques in High Energy Particle the organisation. Identification from Oxford University, a young The BAPC became Aviation Heritage UK in Dr Pleming joined IBM as a Systems Engineer. October 2017 at its 50th anniversary meeting He went on the spend the next 17 years at the where Robert laid out his new vision for the future company working in a variety of roles, working of the organisation becoming the ‘go to’ place for ultimately as AIX Software, Service & Support Brand anything to do with aviation history. Manager for IBM Europe. Robert was appointed a Trustee of the Transport In 1994 he moved to Cisco Systems as Trust (now the National Transport Trust) in 2017, Technical Director – UK where, among other duties, having been the recipient of its prestigious he set up the technical support aspects of new Preservationist of the Year award in 2007 for his Cisco subsidiaries in Denmark, Finland, Norway work on the Vulcan. and South Africa, including the recruitment of the On 21 March 2018 his proposal to create an All Country SE Managers, and the establishment of Party Parliamentary Group for Aviation Heritage was standards, processes and facilities. accepted and on 23 March that year Robert became In 1999 when he was working as Technical a Freeman of the City of London as a member of Director, EMEA Service Provider Line-of-Business, the Guild of Coachmakers and Coach Harness for Cisco, he took a three month leave of absence Makers. to explore the feasibility of returning Vulcan XH558 At a meeting of the APPG for General Aviation, to flight. He returned to work as Director of Special chaired by The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP, a Heritage Projects EMEA for Cisco Systems Corporation until Working Group was established. Robert Courts MP March 2000 when he left his high-flying post to was elected as Parliamentary Chair of the group and work on his mission of returning the Avro Vulcan to Robert was elected unanimously as Sector Chair, flight. with the two co-chairing the group. This put aviation Robert worked tirelessly on the project setting heritage on the parliamentary agenda. up the Vulcan to the Sky Trust to return the last Since 2015, when XH558 was grounded, potentially airworthy RAF V-force aircraft, Avro Robert, determined that her story would live on to Vulcan XH558 to flight. In 1997, when the idea first inspire future generations of engineers, created the came to him, he built a Project Steering Team from vision for The Vulcan Experience and within that key members of the aerospace establishment and the Green Technology Hub (see p 13). He wanted former members of the RAF’s Vulcan Display Flight. this to be a place where people could honour the Against all the odds, Robert and the team past and inspire the future. His team is working to succeeded in their mission, raising millions of fundraise for this project to ensure that Robert’s pounds in donations and returning XH558 to legacy is created and his vision becomes a reality. flight. The Vulcan to the Sky project succeeded Robert was a true visionary and the hours spectacularly on 18 October 2007, with the first test he dedicated to this project and his plans for the flight of the restored Vulcan, some 14 years after Green Technology Hub as a space for the younger its last flight and after nearly two years of intense generation to explore, investigate and create engineering activity. solutions to the climate change challenge will not be She went on to appear in front of air show and forgotten. event audiences totalling over ten million people, Robert was married to Suzanne and lived in around the UK, and in Holland and Belgium. Robert Alresford, near Winchester in Hampshire. His took great pleasure in the joy that watching her fly outside interests included photography and brought to the supporters. XH558 made her final following developments in the physical sciences, flight on 28 October 2015. target shooting (he was chairman of Itchen Valley In May 2016, Robert was elected chairman of Shooting Club) and he enjoyed cricket, good food the British Aviation Preservation Council and he and the company of friends and family.

54 AEROSPACE FRANK RIXEN CEng FRAeS his second retirement in 2017. Professionally, 1928-2021 Frank was a well-respected ‘old school’ engineer (he refused to use a computer to do his concept Frank Rixen played his last note on 28 February drawings), with many accomplishments during his 2021, due to complications from Covid-19. Like the decades-long career. symphonies he loved, Frank’s life had four distinct He also was a life-long member of the Royal ‘movements’, the first one being his early life in the Aeronautical Society and a Chartered Engineer. UK. Frank was born in east London on 25 August Personally, he was known for his cheerfulness, 1928, the middle son of Frank and Elizabeth sense of humour, style, intellect and zest for life. Rixen. England also was where his fascination with He loved a good cocktail (both making them and engineering began. drinking them), a good meal (eating them only – he The second was his move to Canada in 1952, was a self-proclaimed ‘hopeless’ cook), and good where he eventually met and married Magda (née classical music (he also played the piano for many Schlicht) in Toronto and two of his three daughters – years). He was an enthusiastic traveller, avid reader, Ann Julie and Jacqueline – were born. The third was and life-long learner. He had a story for every his move to Texas in 1967 to work for Bell Helicopter occasion and an encyclopaedic knowledge of all Textron, where he worked in pre-design until his (first) things great and small. We will miss him immensely. retirement in 1994. Texas also was where his third His wife of almost 55 years, Magda, preceded daughter, Christine, was born, and where he built his his death in 2009. He is survived by his three ‘getaway’ home on Possum Kingdom Lake, a place daughters and his grandson, Clayton McGee. Frank that brought him much joy and allowed him to teach was not an active participant in the ‘digital and countless children to water ski. virtual world’; therefore, we will postpone a memorial The fourth was his late-career renaissance at for him until later in 2021, when we can physically AVX aircraft, where he worked from 2006 until get together to celebrate his life.

National Aerospace Library e-book Service

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All enquiries to National Aerospace Library E [email protected]; T +44 (0)1252 701038

APRIL 2021 55 Elections

FELLOWS Davide Dacco ASSOCIATE Robert Davidson MEMBERS WITH REGRET Aws Alqemlas Martin Dodds Ian Austin Basil Dube Jeremy Baumgarten The RAeS announces, with regret, the death of the Tony Burnett Jenna Foale Adam Brownlees following members: Rich Carvell-Shepherd Brian George Jack DeSchoolmeester Brian Peter Ayliffe Affiliate 75 Paul Edwards Adeeba Ghazal William Kennedy Robert Evans Robert Greaves Robin Khatiwada Major General Desmond Edward Barker Paul Greenwood Matthew Hitchcock Mukti Limbu HonFRAeS 71 Brett Hemingway Allan Gerard Hunn James Lloyd Christopher Edleston IEng AMRAeS 75 James Hood Zahir Hussain Brendon May John James Goddard MRAeS 81 Albert Major Christopher Loxton Cameron Robbins Richard Morris Ross Macfarlane Luke Spiteri Myra Jones OBE FRAeS 97 Ian Mower Simon Marr Christopher Starling Brendan John Lewis ARAeS 71 Graham Murphy Amedeo Marzano Frank Rixen CEng FRAeS 92 Steven Parry Miguel Angel Medina ASSOCIATES Darrell Pepper Valdez Thomas Dewi Rowlands FRAeS 81 Mark Santen Anthony Murira James Black Richard Edwin Trueman MRAeS 54 Terence Summers Ruchira Muthukumara Binod Budhathoki Peter White Rachel O’Malley Syed Bukhari Colin Richard Wood FRAeS 82 Natasha Purdy Bhagyesh Govilkar AFFILIATES MEMBERS Nabeel Qaisoran Matthew House Iain Rushmere Jack Housego Joshua Cadwallader Steven Middleton Muhammad Ahmed James Stott Peter Krop Joseph Lok Chun Chan Andrew Shirley Atif Alghamdi Ryan Sugden Kazuki Motoyoshi James Cole Paul Baker Thuvahrakan Tara Rodriguez Curras Harrison Doherty STUDENT AFFILIATES Matthew Beard Susendralingam James Thornton Mahmoud Krayem Zoe Beckert Alex Townsend George Wilmot James Lunn Ryan De Oliveira Morgan Carter Michalis Varnavas Renaldo Nicholls Edith Diop Gabriel Cheng James Vickery E-ASSOCIATES Hugo Ruiz Gonzalez Chithi Gunatilake Krasimir Chobanov Natasha Vracas Emily Schick Sam Juson Adam Clark Andrew Wright Joanne Alden Rafael Somoza Catherine Lawton

Adam Clarke Islam Zaki Oliver Allen RAeS Final designMathieu layout.qxd Soulard 05/07/2012 09:19 Page 1James Le Mottee Warner Cowin Babatope Ayo Sahbi Tabka Joseph McKew

AEROSPACE magazine now with green packaging in partnership with

Fantastic images from the National Aerospace Library Collection of the Royal Aeronautical Society are now available to purchase as reproduction prints and giftware items. You may have noticed a change in the way your magazine came View the complete collection at: to you this month. AEROSPACE has changed its packaging from standard low-density polyethylene wrap to a more environmentally www.prints-online.com friendly compostable wrap. This contains natural potato starch and other biologically sourced polymers and is GMO and plasticiser free. You are advised to dispose of this magazine’s packaging into your home compost bin, or food waste caddies and green waste for collection by your local authority.

56 AEROSPACE Don’t forget to renew your membership for 2021!

We would like to encourage members who are eligible to vote in the Society’s annual elections to ensure their membership is up to date. This will enable you to participate in the voting process and have your say on who is elected to Council. If you have not yet renewed your membership for 2021 there is still time to renew and maintain access to your exclusive range of membership benefits. You can renew your membership by logging into your online account. Visit the link below and pay online using a debit or credit card. www.aerosociety.com/login

Payment can also be made via BACS transfer to the Society’s bank account, quoting your membership number. Bank details are as follows: Bank: HSBC plc BIC/Swift: HBUKGB4B Sort Code: 40-05-22 IBAN: GB89HBUK40052201564641 Account No: 01564641

If you would like to discuss your membership renewal please get in touch with our Subscriptions Team by calling +44 (0)20 7670 4304/4315 or by emailing [email protected]

Thank you for renewing your membership!

With your support, the Royal Aeronautical Society remains the world’s foremost professional institution dedicated to the entire aerospace and aviation industry. The Last Word COMMENTARY FROM Professor Keith Hayward FRAeS

A Brabazon programme for green aviation?

y historian’s eye caught Transport structure but it will be hard enough to achieve the Secretary Grant Shapps’ reference carbon-neutral goals set for mid-century. Aviation to Britain’s WW2 planning for has been singled out for the growth of its carbon the future of civil aviation. No footprint and pinpoint delivery of pollutants to the doubt this was a reference to the higher atmosphere. The European aerospace trade MBrabazon programme of 1943-5 which Mr Shapps’ association set ‘stretch targets’ from the ‘noughties’ speechwriters believed would trigger a positive and the EU Horizon programme has funded some chord in an aerospace audience. Oh dear, perhaps major initiatives. Rightly, the industry has prided itself not the best historical precedent for accurate on massive improvements in fuel consumption and forecasting. The entire programme cost the noise reduction. However, achieving carbon neutrality government about £1.46bn in today’s money with a is a different order of challenge. This will require a return of £449m. comprehensive series of improvements in propulsion and aerodynamics, some of which may prove to be Easy to see the future looking back incompatible with mass air transport, in which case, the old adage of the ‘best being the enemy of the Out of the entire list of projects, only the Viscount good’ might just have to be a more realistic target. (plus its Dart engine) and the Dove were unequivocal Nevertheless, there is no harm in setting ‘stretch successes, although the iconic Comet has to count targets’ to force the pace of innovation. as a near miss. Too many were obsolescent before they flew. The rationale for the Brabazon exercise in forecasting was to rebuild the UK civil aircraft industry A ‘green’ DARPA needed? virtually from scratch after a wartime concentration on Even a compromise strategy will demand a lot from building bombers and fighters. The lead the UK had lots of clever people, as well as having research in jet engines was, of course, the ace card but, by the policies and institutions fit for purpose. My concern mid-1950s, this lead had passed to the Americans. At this point we had another spin of the wheel, gambling is that decision makers, especially when dealing out that a supersonic airliner would dominate the next public money, must sort the wheat from the chaff generation. Not the best prediction, as several billion when research funds are to be allocated and bets to pounds and francs later, the world airliner market be placed on promising concepts. We will need more had gone in a rather different direction. The whole Viscounts than Brabazons to achieve the carbon- WE WILL post-1945 civil programme lost a large amount of neutral world of the mid-century. Ideally, the much- NEED MORE taxpayers’ money, until Airbus started to make money touted ‘DARPA’ route could offer an appropriate and VISCOUNTS – and that really only came with the A320 from the effective means of selecting high-risk but potentially late 1980s onward. groundbreaking projects. It must also assume the THAN original DARPA’s ruthless approach to axing failures. BRABAZONS A different order of problem The new UK Advanced Research and Invention TO ACHIEVE Agency (ARIA) has a £800m budget and accepts the THE CARBON- There is, of course, a link between past attempts possibility of failure but the losers should be spotted to look forward and the current problems looking and axed before they soak up too much cash – and, NEUTRAL forward from 2021. The challenge facing dare I say it yet again, ensure that UK-based research WORLD OF THE contemporary civil aviation is not quite as root is fully connected with the EU and able to extract the MID-CENTURY and branch as rebuilding a complete industrial maximum leverage from joint efforts?

58 AEROSPACE Engineering Solutions for a Complex World

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