HATFIELD BRANCH NEWSLETTER

DECEMBER 2020 December Lecture Galleys by Adina Caraba, Director of Engineering, Collins Aerospace

Wednesday 9th December, 6.30pm, online. See back page for details

From the Chairman Welcome to the December newsletter. As we approach Although Airbus and Boeing are looking to reduce the end of a traumatic year, I hope that you and your headcount by about 15% and the downturn will have families remain safe and will be able to enjoy the significant impact in the supply chains, all is not doom festive season. and gloom. CEOs of Airlines and OEMs have confirmed Last week, Keith Gowland and I attended the latest their commitment to pursue the development of online brief from the Branches Committee of the Main carbon-friendly systems which include synthetic Society. After an introduction from the President, aviation fuel and hydrogen and electric power. In Professor Jonathan Cooper, Chief Executive Sir Brian September, Airbus revealed three concept aircraft, all Burridge gave an interesting update on the state of the with hydrogen power. Society and the Aero Industry in response to Covid. Defence projects have been less impacted by Covid The Society has not escaped from the economic and the recent UK defence funding review included impact of the pandemic. Almost half the Society’s continued funding for Tempest, the UK next-generation revenue comes from conferences and other events fighter. Interestingly, the team include lots of companies at Hamilton Place. Without this income, the Society from outside the traditional defence sector, including has had to make some hard choices and has reduced F1 and gaming companies. headcount by 13 staff – to just 36. Coming back to branch business, I hope that you will The impact on the airline industry has been cata- be able to join us for our next lecture on 9th December strophic. Summer revenues for European Airlines were when Adina Caraba will talk on aircraft galleys. For the just 25% of those in 2019 and this has had an inevitable last two lecture some members have had problems impact on the manufacturing side. Over the next 10 connecting. Hopefully, this time, we will have more years, deliveries of commercial aircraft are projected at success. 16,000, a 30% reduction from pre-pandemic levels. The I wish you all a very happy Christmas and trust that impact is greater in long-haul aircraft. Even assuming we can look forward to a more normal 2021. that we get a successful vaccine programme in 2021, Steve Rogers airline traffic is not expected to fully recover until 2024. HATFIELD BRANCH DECEMBER 2020 NEWSLETTER

Lecture Report – A Brief History of Handley Page & Radlett Aerodrome, Chris Scivyer For the November Lecture, we were delighted to welcome Chris Scivyer, the chairman of the Handley Page Association, to talk on the history of Handley Page and Radlett Aerodrome. Chris grew up in Frogmore and he spent many happy hours in the garden pressed up against the back fence – on the other side was the Radlett Aerodrome. The southern end of the runway was 150 yards from the fence. He had Victors at the bottom of the garden! Chris still lives in the same house today and he was able to point out the house in a number of the aircraft pictures. It is now 50 years since the airfield closed. four engine HP42, used by Imperial Airways and seen here with some horse-drawn mowing machines for maintaining the runway. During the Second World War, Handley Page turned to building bombers and built Harrow, Hampden and Halifax bombers in great numbers. The Hastings military transport went into service in 1948 and immediately joined the Berlin Airlift, some aircraft even being delivered unpainted from the factory to join the round-the-clock effort to keep Berlin supplied. The Victor was the last of the three V Bombers to fly, making its first flight from Boscombe Down in 1952. In 1957, test pilot John Allam achieved M1.1 in a shallow dive, creating a sonic boom over . Handley Page also developed the HP115 research aircraft, which Frederick Handley Page was born in 1885 and in was used to test the low-speed characteristics of the 1909 he founded the first aeronautical company in slender delta wing being developed for Concorde. the UK. Originally established in Barking, in 1912 they By the early sixties, the government were moved to Cricklewood. During the First World War, encouraging aircraft companies to merge. Sir Frederick they were building O/100 and O/400 bombers for the resisted the merger with and the war effort. After the war, some O/400s were converted result was a lack of government contracts. Handley into airliners for Handley Page Transport and operated Page decided to go it alone and build the Jetstream the first regular flights from to Paris in 1919. airliner. But by 1970, even with a new US owner, the By the late 1920s, Cricklewood Aerodrome was money had finally run out. At the end of the 1960s, a being encroached on all sides by new housing and number of Victors were parked up at Radlett awaiting the company was looking for a new airfield. One of conversion to tankers. The contract never came and Handley Page’s test pilots, James Cordes, remembered was given to Hawker Siddeley after Handley Page went an occasion when he had been forced by bad weather into voluntary liquidation in March 1970. The Jetstream to land in a field near Frogmore, alongside what was project moved to Scottish Aviation at Prestwick. then the Midland Railway Line, and suggested this as a When Handley Page first moved to Radlett, they suitable location for a new factory and aerodrome. The needed to move sheep off the runway before aircraft company opened the new airfield and manufacturing could take off. Now looking over the garden fence, plant at Radlett in 1930. The factory at Cricklewood Chris can see sheep grazing in the fields where aircraft continued to produce parts until 1964. once operated. In the inter-war years, the company produced a This was Chris’s first online lecture and he range of biplane airliners, including the luxurious commented how strange it was not to get any HATFIELD BRANCH DECEMBER 2020 NEWSLETTER feedback from the audience during the talk. Neverthe- of Handley Page. This excellent exhibition opened less, he succeeded in delivering a most entertaining in February, just in time for lockdown, but is now and informative lecture. available online at: Unfortunately, some of our members were unable https://www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/explore/ to log into the online lecture. However, the exhibitions/handley-page Museum, in conjunction with the Handley Page Steve Rogers Association, has mounted an exhibition on the history

Wishing all of our members a Healthy and Prosperous New Year

2020-21 Lecture Programme Members’ competition Confirmed lectures (Wednesdays): Email the name of this trophy to [email protected] for a chance to win the mug shown below. 21st Oct: Geoffrey Lecture: PrivateFly Air Charter Operations, Adam Twidell 18th Nov: Handley Page & Radlett, Chris Scivyer 9th Dec: Aircraft Galleys, Collins Aerospace Thursday 21st Jan 2021: Space Lecture, Howard Nye 17th Feb: Student Lecture Competition 17th Mar: TBA 21st Apr: GASCo Safety Evening, Keith Thomas 19th May: Lecture TBA, preceded by AGM All lectures are online. Please contact hatfield@aerosociety. com for an invitation

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Heading for the new normal Hybrids Inspired by recent (October/November) Aerospace These have both a fuel-powered engine and an magazines on the theme of electric aviation, I decided electric unit designed to work together. The electric to find out how zero emission flight is maturing. You motor serves as backup for the combustion engine, may be interested in a personal review of some of the decreasing the stress on the latter and thereby lowering possibilities and constraints for electric flight. fuel consumption. So how are hybrid aircraft charged? While, for many years, propulsion options were The small onboard battery recharges during descent limited to petrol or diesel powered engines, these or deceleration by converting speed into energy. days electric motors are increasingly being considered. Rechargeable hybrids They may sometimes be used to completely replace Rechargeable hybrids use a battery with a larger their predecessor, the combustion-powered engine, capacity integrated into the airframe. A socket is resulting in an electric vehicle. In other cases, two added to allow for independent charging. In this different technologies may coexist within a single way, the electric motor becomes a true alternative to vehicle: these are hybrid models which have various the combustion-powered engine for the majority of levels of interaction depending on the charging and everyday travel. Nevertheless, the use of the combus- energy storage systems chosen. tion-powered engine remains an option for covering What are the main differences between hybrid and long distances. The difference between hybrid vehicles electric? and rechargeable hybrid vehicles is that only the latter Operational differences can be charged at an outlet, allowing for more use of Electric vehicles are less noisy, odourless, and electrical power and therefore a longer electric range. provide a smooth acceleration. In terms of cost, Hybrid vehicles with range extenders “fuel” expenses are greatly reduced, as electricity is Another option is to use an electric motor and battery, much less expensive than petrol or diesel. In terms and to add a small combustion-powered engine of range, current developments have achieved one designed to maintain the charge. This is called an extend- hour of continuous operation. Charging time remains ed-range electric vehicle. The hybrid is much closer to a challenge but is improving. being 100% electric than 100% combustion-powered: Hybrids have a greater range than traditional electricity is the main source of ‘fuel.’ For vehicles of combustion-powered aircraft because they are this type, the battery has a large capacity and can be fuel-powered with two electric batteries as backup. recharged at a charging station. These aircraft are able Electrical power reduces fuel consumption (up to 40% to run on electrical power for everyday use, without equivalent.) When the vehicles are running on electric producing any exhaust fumes. The combustion engine power, the ride is just as silent and comfortable. When acts only as a support, operating in a manner similar to the combustion engine powers the vehicle, it feels that of a power generator. Its only purpose is to extend much like a traditional vehicle. With this arrangement, the range by recharging the battery; it doesn’t provide take off and climb using the main engine may be power directly to the motor. followed by cruise using the electric motor. Hydrogen 100% electric There is such a thing as a 100% electric aircraft that Electric aircraft are the most advanced and most uses an alternative form of power: hydrogen. Hydrogen affordable solution available in today’s market to fuel cells make it possible to generate electricity from respond to environmental issues related to global the gas, produced by the decomposition of water or warming and air pollution. What makes them unique? methane. Within each cell, the gas is converted into The combustion engine, fuel tank, and exhaust pipe are electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen all gone, and in their place is a battery-powered electric present in the surrounding air. It is fed by a tank that motor. With a potential range of several hundred contains the gas stored at high pressure (250- 350 bar). kilometres, they run silently, consume no energy when The manufacture of fuel cells requires rare metals stationary, and produce no exhaust fumes. Due to as well as an energy source, which may or may not be the lack of combustion and moving mechanical parts, renewable. Large-scale adoption would also require electric motors are exceptionally reliable. This means setting up infrastructure for the production and distri- that maintenance is kept to a bare minimum. bution of hydrogen. HATFIELD BRANCH DECEMBER 2020 NEWSLETTER

Electric and hybrid vehicles Electric power has made enormous strides since the days of nickel-cadmium batteries. Modern lithium-ion batteries are safe and, at the end of their life cycle, are handled through increasingly efficient recycling processes. They are lighter, more compact, and have a higher capacity, increasing the range. This technology is good for up to 2500 charging cycles. Dynamic inductive charging is another promising lead, as it could enable charging certified with hydrogen propulsion within three while in motion. years, and a 50- to 100-seat model by 2030. By 2040, These developments stem from the environmental it believes it could be possible for aircraft carrying impact of aviation. In 2019 it was estimated to be 1 200 passengers to make flights of more than 3,000 billion tonnes of CO2, which is about 2.5% of global nm. The HyFlyer programme is supported by the UK emissions. Leading these initiatives are Airbus, Rolls government’s Innovate UK and Aerospace Technology Royce, Hybrid Airships and ZeroAvia with technology Institute research and technology projects. Its aim is demonstrators. Will they meet expectations and to replace conventional propeller engines in medi- become a new normal for aviation? um-sized passenger aircraft for regional airline New infrastructure and skills will be needed to operations. The Piper’s single piston engine has been enable this technology to mature over the expected replaced by a powertrain consisting of an electric motor, life of an aircraft. Currently it takes 5-10 years to hydrogen fuel cells, and gas storage. This combination design a new aircraft, and another 3-5 years to bring is expected to offer a significantly more efficient it into operational service. Therefore, larger organi- energy-to-weight ratio than battery-based all-electric sations are leading development of mass transit zero propulsion. ZeroAvia intends to make a flight of almost emissions capabilities. However, smaller organisations 300nm from Cranfield in southern England to the off-set this high-risk approach by equipping existing Orkney islands in the north of Scotland. This is where airframes with proof of concepts. One such example of the company’s partner, EMEC Hydrogen, is based and this approach is ZeroAvia, who announced, at Cranfield where it is working on infrastructure to use renewable on 25 September 2020, that it had made the first flight energy to produce so-called green hydrogen to fuel of a six-seat Piper M350 powered with hydrogen fuel aircraft. ZeroAvia believes that by 2023 it could have a cells. Working on the government-backed HyFlyer hydrogen-powered aircraft ready to start commercial programme to advance zero-emissions aviation, operations carrying up to 20 passengers on trips ZeroAvia intends to have a 10- to 20-seat aircraft of up to around 500nm. It says that operating costs

Six-seat Piper M350 Airlander 10 HATFIELD BRANCH DECEMBER 2020 NEWSLETTER will be lower than for an all-electric aircraft, in part but is this the next technology to disrupt the aviation because the technology does not require batteries to market? One of the limiting factors is the technology; be replaced. ZeroAvia is also partnered with Intelligent battery power density is not as good as fossil fuel. Energy, which is adapting its evaporatively cooled fuel A battery’s efficiency or ability to hold energy is cell technology for aviation use. measured as specific energy. Currently, batteries are Hybrid Air Vehicles is working on an electric version about 250 watt-hours per kilogramme. Estimating an of its Airlander airship, in partnership with Collins. A equivalent capability, batteries will need to be about hybrid airship, filled with helium, has secured a funding 800 watt-hours per kilogramme for a small aircraft and injection of £1 million to develop electric propulsion. 12,000 watt-hours per kilogramme for a jet airliner. The funding from the UK Aerospace Research and This will require a bigger battery to an aircraft than Technology Programme of BEIS and Innovate UK aims to the current engine and fuel tank configuration for the support the project which is thought to accelerate the same power density. UK’s journey to zero-emission transport. The Airlander Another consideration is the certification of the 10, which claims to be the ‘world’s first full-scale installation. For example, if the battery goes wrong you hybrid aircraft’, uses aerostatic and aerodynamic cannot stop as you would in a car, so the resilience and lift technology, to carry up to 90 passengers or ten redundancy requirements are much higher. Pipistrel tonnes of cargo, and even has a dining room! The demonstrated the first two-seat 100% electric light E-HAV1 project, which was launched in April 2019 by aircraft in 2017 based upon a glider design to aid the the supplier Collins Aerospace and the University of Nottingham, will deliver a full-size prototype 500kW electric propulsor for ground testing. This technology will replace Airlander’s fuel-burning engines as the first step to an all-electric Airlander by 2030, using hydrogen fuel cell only. With four fuel-burning engines, Airlander 10 currently produces 75% fewer emissions than other jets of similar standards - replacing the two front engines with electric motors will further reduce Alpha Electro G2 plane, built by Pipistrel in Slovenia emissions. The hybrid-electric Airlander 10 is expected to produce 90% fewer emissions from 2025. However, certification process as retro-fitting an electric motor this underestimates how this capability is being and batteries is a low-risk approach. This approach has explored by general aviation and the UAV market. also been used to assess a hybrid solution. Ampaire If we look back at what has been achieved in the retro-fitted an electrical motor into a 1973 Cessna so late 1880s the concept of an electric-powered airship both a liquid and electric motor were available. Harbour was demonstrated in France and proved that power Air replaced the engine in a 62 year old airframe for a density was a limiting factor. 100 years later, the 15 minute test flight of fully electric solution in 2019. first flight of an electric aircraft with nickel cadmium However, this limits the electric motor to the existing batteries (MB-E1) lasted 15 minutes. By the 1980s motor and fuel footprint and weight. lithium-ion batteries were used to power Solar Impulse In summary, electric motors are smaller and lighter 2. Starting in 2015 this aircraft took 16 months to travel than equivalent liquid fuel motors. However, if you are around the world at an average speed of 30 miles per confined by the existing weight limitations, you lose hour. Electric planes have been around for some time, range because of the size of the battery. For electric

MB-E1 Cessna 337 Skymaster HATFIELD BRANCH DECEMBER 2020 NEWSLETTER

Eviation Alice DHC-2 de Havilland Beaver converted to a 750- horsepower all-electric motor planes to be successful in the long term, a re-design gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ is necessary. Israeli company Eviation has taken on attachment_data/file/926207/20201001_Innovate_ this challenge with the proof of concept vehicle, a UK_Funded_Projects.xlsx nine-seater plane – Alice – with an expected range of Results of Competition: UK Aerospace Research 650 miles. and Technology Programme: Batch 28 Electric vehicles currently have an estimated range https://assets.publishing.service.gov. of 500 miles – this distance covers more than half of uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ today’s airline tickets sold. Many journeys use larger, attachment_data/file/852164/Competition_ less-efficient airliners which are built to fly thousands Results_-_UK_Aerospace_Research_and_Technology_ of miles when smaller, more-efficient planes would be Programme_Batch_28.pdf more suitable. In the last forty years, less-efficient flights to regional airports have become increasingly expensive. At the same time, airlines have reduced operations on less efficient routes choosing to optimise their aircraft for the more lucrative routes. However, the intro- duction of electric aircraft to regional airports could restore overall efficiency by establishing a hub and spoke travel infrastructure with an average cost saving of £500 per flight hour compared to a turbo prop aircraft as well as corresponding reductions in noise and pollution. Reflecting upon the lecture, Adam Twidell may have been correct in his prediction Cessna Skymaster that small efficient electric aircraft may operate from Hatfield aerodrome for short range flights. Keith Gowland

References ZeroAvia: https://www.zeroavia.com HAV: www.hybridairvehicles.com Fuel cell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell EMEC: European Marine Energy Centre http:// www.emec.org.uk. Intelligent Energy – Evaporatively Cooled Technology: www.intelligent-energy.com/evaporative- ly-cooled-technology BAE-Siemens BAe 146 electric propulsion concept Innovate UK funded projects 2004 to 1 demonstrator October 2020: https://assets.publishing.service. HATFIELD BRANCH DECEMBER 2020 NEWSLETTER

Here to help… MS Teams Live Event A number of members have reported issues with joining MS Teams live events. The committee have discussed this matter and wish to offer the following guidance. Our lectures will be delivered via the MS Teams Live Event tool, so you will need an internet-enabled/ connected device. MS Teams Live is a live streaming tool (so you cannot be seen or heard). Please check that your speakers are turned on so you can hear the presentation. From an MS Windows-enabled PC/laptop you do not need the MS Teams app or an MS Teams account Figure 2 to join the event. For other devices you may need to install the app, but you still do not need an MS Teams account. For further information, please see the Microsoft Teams tutorial at: https://support.microsoft.com/ en-us/office/attend-a-live-event-d837ad8d-ce34- 44d0-9744-9beb50e943ac

How to Join the MS Teams Live Event After clicking on the joining link provided (or pasting it into your web browser), MS Teams will launch in your web browser and the screen shown in Figure 1 will appear. You will have the choice to get (download and install) the Teams app or watch on the web (via your Figure 3 browser).

Figure 1 Figure 4

This guide only covers joining through your web 4). Like our usual lectures, we will save answering browser. After selecting ‘watch on the web instead,’ questions until after the presentation has finished. the screen shown in Figure 2 will appear. The committee would like to test this capability Once you sign in the screen shown in Figure 3 will and provide feedback for the guidance of members. appear. Please note: if you see ‘The live event hasn’t Therefore, please email [email protected] started,’ you have joined the event successfully so to arrange a test connection. However, we do look please wait until the event begins. forward to meeting face to face again soon. You can ask questions using the Live Q&A (Figure Keith Gowland HATFIELD BRANCH ONLINE LECTURE

Aircraft Galleys

9th December 2020 18:30

Over the years, BE Aerospace at Leighton Buzzard Adina Caraba developed an enviable reputation as a leading supplier Director of Engineering – Collins of seats and galleys to the major aerospace Aerospace manufacturers. Now part of Collins Aerospace, the Leighton Buzzard facility continues to design & manufacture a wide range of aircraft interiors. In this lecture, Adina will cover the evolution of the After gaining a degree in Electrical Engineering in Romania, company and talk about the development and Adina moved to the UK in 2007 and joined Goodrich manufacture of current products. Aerospace at Pitstone as a hardware engineer working on electric motors control units.

As a programme manager she led the introduction of electric motors and control system for thrust reversers on the Airbus A350, as well as the electric brake actuator controller redesign for the Boeing 787.

After a spell as Transfer Director managing the transfer of capability prior to the closing of the site in Hemel Hempstead, she is now the galleys engineering leader for Collins Interiors based in Leighton Buzzard.

VENUE: PROGRAMME: CPD certificates of attendance will be Online Webinar 18:30 – Online Forum Setup 18:40 – CPD Reg and welcome endorsed for CEng, IEng or EngTech 18:45 – Lecture registration 20:00 – End

Members & non-members are welcome GET CONNECTED WITH RAeS Search “RAeS Hatfield Branch”, on Facebook For webinar invites and questions in advance, Please contact the Branch Secretary on: Email: [email protected]