FLIGHT

INTERNATIONAL
OVERHAUL VIEW
WE GET A FIX ON
NORTH AMERICAS
MRO OUTLOOK
MAINTENANCE P40
PARIS PROPOSAL
BA ponders possibility of
displaying its frst A380 at
Le Bourget, but A350 and
CSeries not expected 20
ABC NOT SO EASY
Former navy chief urges
Pentagon to consider
cutting F-35 variants
from three to two 21
FSTA
REACHING
FUEL SPEED
Next stage for the Voyagers as the UK
transforms its tanker/transport feet
ightglobal.com


3.30
9-15 APRIL 2013
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9-15 April 2013
|
Flight International
|
3 fightglobal.com
FLIGHT
INTERNATIONAL
VOLUME 183 NUMBER 5385 9-15 APRIL 2013
U
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Embraers Phenom 300 speeds to trio of records P26.
F-15s tted with y-by-wire to require recertication
campaign P23
FLIGHT
INTERNATIONAL
OVERHAUL VIEW
WE GET AFIXON
NORTHAMERICAS
MROOUTLOOK
MAINTENANCE P40
PARISPROPOSAL
BA ponders possibility of
displaying its frst A380 at
Le Bourget, but A350 and
CSeries not expected 20
ABCNOT SOEASY
Former navy chief urges
Pentagon to consider
cutting F-35 variants
fromthree to two 21
FSTA
REACHING
FUEL SPEED
Next stage for theVoyagers as the UK
transforms its tanker/transport feet
ighcgIebaI.cem

3.30
9-15 APRIL 2013
NEWS
THIS WEEK
8 Bristow prepares for UK SAR duties
9 South Korea weighs up rival fghters
10 SpaceX ramps up bid for reusability
12 Toulouse move brings EADS together
AIR TRANSPORT
14 Crew could have avoided Eva 747s
urgent descent.
Rescue fasco followed turboprop crash
at Rome
16 Storm scrambled Etihad A340 airspeed
data
18 PALs plan to pit A350 against 777X.
Gol 737s go-around and diversion
depletes tanks
19 Probe opens after Boeing 737-800
nearly stalls
20 British A380 could top Paris billing if new
types miss out.
Samoa passengers to pay by weight
NEWS FOCUS
21 Logic of F-35A questioned
DEFENCE
22 Jakarta deals fow for Airbus Military.
MBDA looks to go the distance with
Marte
23 Four bidders to do battle in Polish AJT
competition.
Bedek replaces centre wing box on Israeli
C-130
BUSINESS AVIATION
25 Eclipse 550 clear for assembly, test.
CRJ700s next test for Flying Colours
26 Worn-out gearbox grounded EC225s.
EBACE visitors to get frst look at Pilatus
PC-24
GENERAL AVIATION
29 Tecnam tags Aero Friedrichshafen for
Astore reveal
SPACEFLIGHT
31 NASA tightens security after lapses
BUSINESS
32 Mil and Kamov look to Africa
REGULARS
7 Comment
46 Straight & Level
48 Classied
51 Jobs
55 Working Week
52 JOB OF THE WEEK DELTA, aircraft
technicians, London Heathrow
COVER STORY
34 Fuel change A new role for the Voyager
as the UK proceeds with feet renewal
FEATURES
36 ABACE PREVIEW Wealth of
opportunities Shows popularity
highlights a sharpening appetite for
business jets in Asia
40 MRO Seeking synergies American
Airlines and US Airways must decide
how to join up maintenance operations
43 Out of the ashes The demise of a
Canadian institution, and what came next
PIC OF THE WEEK
YOUR PHOTOGRAPH HERE
AirSpace user Lloyd Horgan posted this shot
of an AgustaWestland WAH-64D Apache
whipping up a storm on Salisbury Plain.
Our latest World Air Forces directory lists
66 Apaches in the British Armys eet. Open
a gallery in Flightglobal.coms AirSpace
community for a chance to feature here
L
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ightglobal.com/imageoftheday
R
ic
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COVER IMAGE
Rick Ingham photographed
Royal Air Force Voyager
ZZ330 on approach to the
services Brize Norton air
transport base during
2012. The type is nearing
service approval for
air-to-air refuelling.
See Cover Story P34
NEXT WEEK UAVS SPECIAL
We assess what the future might hold for
Europes unmanned sector, and bring
programme updates on the Watchkeeper
and Neuron. Plus: a look at IAIs Butterfy
I
A
I
Dcwnlcad The Engine Directcry.
fightglcbal.ccm[CcmEngDirectcry
fightglobal.com
CONTENTS
THE WEEK ON THE WEB
ightglobal.com
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BEHIND THE
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Vote at ightglobal.com/poll
Find all these items at ightglobal.com/wotw
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
53
%
21
%
26
%
Total votes: 1,478
This week, we ask: What should the Pentagons F-35 strategy be?
Stay the course Cancel the A Cancel the B or C Cancel
the entire programme
Expensive orbital white
elephant
Some uses as a
scientic lab
Technological wonder
that unites mankind
Last week, we asked for your thoughts on the International Space
Station was: You said:
HIGH FLIERS
The top ve stories for the week just gone:
1 Boeing confdent of returning 787 to service soon
2 Boeing looks beyond batteries on latest 787 test fight
3 Storm ice suspected in Etihad A340 cruise incident
4 A350 and CSeries unlikely to feature at Paris air show
5 Former USN chief suggests DoD should cancel F-35A
Our Image of the Day blog marked the 80th anniversary of
frst fight over Mount Everest. Lord Clydesdale and David
McIntyre rose above the worlds highest peak in two
Westland Wallace biplanes
(left). The pioneers would go
on to found Scottish Aviation,
bequeathing the strong
aviation hub that still exists
at Prestwick. The DEW
Line carried video from the
Lockheed Martin F-35Bs frst weapons-separation test
for the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile at NAS
Patuxent River, Maryland. The sortie was fown by US Navy
test pilot Lt Cdr Michael Burks on 26 March. And the Airline
Business blog noted that Aer Lingus chief Christoph Mueller
has so impressed the Irish government with his turn-
around skills that he has been appointed as chair of
state-owned postal service An Post at what has been
termed, ominously, a critical time for the organisation.
Political chaos may reign in
Rome, but respite could be
found in the astonishing, pano-
ramic view of the citys roofs and
monuments from a hotel on via
Vittorio Veneto, where MBDA
(P22) hosted an annual results
briefng attended by Luca
Peruzzi (below). The conference
provided an interesting over-
view on the industrial, govern-
mental and marketing
challenges laying ahead for the
international group, with a focus
on Italy and the programmes
which see the current and future
involvement of the Italian arm of
the group, says Peruzzi.
IN THIS ISSUE
Companies listed
Aero Vodochody ...........................................23
Airbus ....................... 8, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20
Airbus Military ..............................................22
Air France ..............................................16, 19
Alenia Aermacchi .........................................23
Alitalia .........................................................14
Armavia .......................................................33
Aspen Avionics.............................................29
ATR ..............................................................14
Avcorp ...................................................25, 33
BAE Systems .........................................23, 25
Bharat Electronics .......................................... 8
Bigelow Aerospace .......................................31
Boeing ................ 8, 14, 18, 19, 20, 23, 25, 32
Bombardier .....................................20, 25, 26
Bristow Helicopters .................................. 8, 26
British Airways ..............................................20
Britten-Norman ............................................20
Cambodia Airlines ........................................18
Cambodia Angkor Air ....................................18
Cessna ..................................................25, 33
CHC Helicopter ............................................26
Cobham.......................................................29
Dirgantara Indonesia ...................................22
EADS .....................................................12, 33
Eclipse Aerospace ........................................25
EDAC Technologies .......................................33
Elbit Systems ...............................................33
Embraer .................................................25, 26
Etihad Airways ..............................................16
Eurocopter .........................................8, 26, 29
Eva Air .........................................................14
Evektor ........................................................29
Evergreen Apple Nigeria ...............................26
Finnair ........................................................... 8
Flying Colours ..............................................25
General Electric .....................................18, 20
Gol ..............................................................18
Grob Aircraft.................................................33
Hartzell ........................................................25
Hawaiian Airlines ........................................... 8
Hawker Beechcraft .......................................25
Hindustan Aeronautics .................................33
Honeywell ..............................................26, 33
Israel Aerospace Industries ..........................23
Jet Aviation ..................................................26
Korean Air ....................................................20
Lockheed Martin ................................9, 21, 23
Logicalis ......................................................33
London Executive Aviation ............................25
Lufthansa ....................................................20
Malaysia Airlines ..........................................20
MBDA ..........................................................22
NATS............................................................33
Norwegian ...................................................19
Philippine Airlines ........................................18
Pilatus ...................................................26, 32
Piper Aircraft ................................................29
Pipistrel .......................................................29
Pratt & Whitney ......................................25, 26
Qatar Airways ...............................................20
Raisbeck......................................................25
Rizon Jet ......................................................26
Robinson Helicopter ....................................29
Rolls-Royce ......................................18, 29, 33
Russian Helicopters .....................................23
Safran .........................................................33
Samoa Air ....................................................20
Selex ES ......................................................22
SpaceX ........................................................10
StandardAero ..............................................33
Tawazun Precision Industries ........................22
Tecnam ........................................................29
Travira Air .....................................................18
Williams International ..................................26
4
|
Flight International
|
9-15 April 2013
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COMMENT
9-15 April 2013
|
Flight International
|
7 fightglobal.com
For analysis of the latest F-35
programme news, consult our
defence blog The DEW Line:
ightglobal.com/dewline See This Week P12
Steady as she goes, EADS
A
t the risk of understating the signicance of the
transformative governance overhaul that has been
formally instituted at EADS, now is a good time to ask:
what next?
As in any turnover of rules or leadership and EADS
has both, with a new board of directors, relatively new
chief executive and head of Airbus and, soon, new
head of Eurocopter the rst order of business has got
to be continuity. Even seasoned executives need to
learn the ropes in a new role.
Second, watch the A350. Heaven knows cadres of
management are living this programme day and night,
but the same was, and is, true for Boeings 787 project.
As A380 veterans know all too well, big programmes
have a way of smashing even best-laid plans.
Third, watch Eurocopter. Now is the time to rethink
all the assumptions, to make sure rivals are not quietly
threatening to outank this global market leader.
Fourth, wheel out the big brains and devise, within,
say, a year, a serious defence business strategy. The
Cassidian unit is not in crisis, but neither does it seem
good use of capital, which makes it sound rather like a
zombie division. Getting out may be an option.
EADS has a lot going for it. Tom Enders and his sen-
ior management are in control, protability is rising,
market trends are good and the technological under-
pinnings are solid. No disruptions, please.
See News Focus P21
Threes a crowd?
Power of suggestion
A former US Navy chiefs proposal that the Pentagon consider culling the F-35A was one from
left feld. But for reasons both practical and philosophical, it cannot be dismissed out of hand
T
he Lockheed Martin F-35 is set to become the main-
stay ghter for not only the US Department of
Defense, but also many US allies. However, costs are pro-
jected to be far greater than expected, at $1.1 trillion.
Former US Navy chief of naval operations Adm Gary
Roughead suggests that the Pentagon seriously consider
cancelling the US Air Forces F-35A model aircraft in
favour of the navys carrier-capable F-35C.
While on the surface such a plan might sound like it
borders on the insane, it should not be ruled out with-
out serious consideration.
The idea was briey examined by the DoD during the
Bush administration, but it never gained any serious
traction. Though there are some indications that analysis
is again under way, the DoD ofcially denies this.
The USAF and some foreign allies would ght to
their dying breath to save the F-35A. However, the fact
is that land-based forces can operate a naval aircraft
without any real difculty. A good precedent for this
was set by the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II,
which ably served with the navy, USAF and US Ma-
rine Corps, as well as numerous foreign allies.
Potentially, consolidating variants to the C model
could help reduce the F-35s life-cycle costs by sim-
plifying logistics and pilot and maintainer training.
Operationally, the F-35C, despite its comparatively
lower kinematic performance, has much better range
than other variants of the Joint Strike Fighter in-
Adopting the F-35A might
mean refuelling a four-ship
of ghters much faster
creasingly important for operations in the Pacic.
While a USAF tanker can only refuel one ghter at a
time using the ying-boom system, the F-35Cs hose-
and-drogue apparatus would enable the same tanker to
transfer fuel to multiple aircraft simultaneously.
Some will argue the boom system can ofoad fuel at
a rate of about 6,000lb (2,722kg) per minute, but ght-
ers cannot accept fuel at a rate of more than 3,000lb per
minute. Usually the actual rates are far slower. The na-
vys hose-and-drogue system, which is also used
around the world, can transfer fuel at rates of between
1,500lb and 2,000lb per minute. Thus, adopting the
F-35C might mean refuelling a four-ship of ghters
much faster than would be possible with the F-35A.
Moreover, USAF squadrons could potentially be
trained to operate from on board the navys carriers to
increase their basing exibility or to augment carrier air
wings as needed furthering the concept of seamless
integration that the Pentagons much-vaunted Air-Sea
Battle concept espouses.
THIS WEEK
fightglobal.com 8
|
Flight International
|
9-15 April 2013
For a round-up of our latest online news,
feature and multimedia content visit
ightglobal.com/wotw
ROTORCRAFT DOMINIC PERRY LONDON
Bristow prepares
for UK SAR duties
Contest winner confdent preparation for imminent interim
stint will ensure smooth transition to comprehensive role
Sikorsky S-92s will be used alongside AgustaWestland AW189s
AIRBUS TAKES EARLY LEAD IN DELIVERIES RACE
AIRCRAFT Airbus has taken an early lead in its bid to reclaim top
spot in the annual deliveries race, handing over 144 aircraft in the
frst quarter to edge out Boeing, which reached the end of March at
137. For the full year 2012, Boeing took top spot after nearly a dec-
ade in second place, with 601 handovers to Airbuss 588. On the
orders front, Boeing is yet to report Q1 fgures, but Airbus has surged
to a net 410 thanks to Lion Airs huge deal for 169 A320s and
A320neos, as well as 65 A321neos. Airbus fgures also list
Hawaiian Airlines order for 16 A321neos, and reveal the cancella-
tion of a single A350-900 destined for a private customer.
EUROCOPTER, TURBOMECA TO BUILD IN POLAND
TENDER In a bid to secure a zlotych 10 billion ($3.1 billion) contract
from Poland for 70 new multi-role helicopters, Eurocopter has signed
an industrial co-operation agreement with Turbomeca and Wojskowe
Zaklady Lotnicze No 1 (WZL-1) to establish two full assembly lines in
the country for the EC725 Caracal and its Makila 2 turboshaft en-
gines, along with a comprehensive in-country industrial work pack-
age including training and maintenance.
FOLLOW-ON FIGHTER WORK TO BHARAT ELECTRONICS
ELECTRONICS Indias state-owned Bharat Electronics has signed a
follow-on contact with Boeing to make subassemblies for the F/A-
18E/F Super Hornet including the ground power panel, helmet vehi-
cle interface stowage and switch assembly and cockpit power
console panels. Bharat also provides the identifcation friend-or-foe
integrators and Data Link II communications system for P-81 mari-
time surveillance aircraft acquired by the Indian navy.
USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN COMING IN FOR FUEL
NAVAL AVIATION The US Navy is awarding Huntington Ingalls a
$2.6 billion contract to refuel and overhaul the nuclear-powered air-
craft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Each of the services 100,000t
Nimitz-class carriers needs to be refuelled once every 25 years. The
work, which will be carried out at the USAs only nuclear-capable ship-
yard, in Newport News, Virginia, and completed by November 2016,
had been delayed by Congressional budget battles. It is not yet
known if the navys budget will allow it to award Ingalls a contract to
begin building the new Gerald Ford-class carrier USS John F Kennedy.
FINNAIR PICKS CARGOTEC EXECUTIVE AS NEW CHIEF
AIRLINES Finnair has named Pekka Vauramo, an executive from
handling company Cargotec, as its new chief, just after outgoing
boss Mika Vehvilainen moved to head the same frm. Vauramo is the
chief operating offcer of Cargotec division MacGregor, but has also
headed its Kalmarbusiness and served as Cargotecs deputy chief.
BAHRAIN APPEARS TO WIND DOWN MRO VENTURE
BUSINESS Bahrains maintenance, repair and overhaul venture Gulf
Technics appears to have been suspended after three turbulent
years of ambitious expansion plans that only led to a single support
contract with state carrier Gulf Air. Government sources have not
responded to calls for clarifcation, but a source familiar with the
project tells Flight International that Gulf Technics has collapsed.
The Bahraini governments Tamkeen funding programme says it is
placing a priority on the aviation sector training programmes it offers
as a result of graduates failing to fnd employment due to the liqui-
dation of Gulf Technics.
BRIEFING
B
ristow Helicopters is now
beginning a two-year work-
up period ahead of its gradual
transition to performing all the
UKs search and rescue activity
from 2015 following its victory
in the countrys Long SAR con-
test last month.
The company was awarded the
1.6 billion ($2.4 billion) deal on
26 March by the UK Department
for Transport and will run the
SAR operation for up to 10 years.
Crew training will take place at
a number of locations across the
country as the operator installs
simulators for the AgustaWest-
land AW189 and Sikorsky S-92 in
Aberdeen. Training aircraft will
be located in Stornoway and In-
verness. Additional lessons will
be delivered at its Bristow Acad-
emy in Gloucestershire, says
Simon Tye, UK SAR project man-
ager at Bristow.
Tye points out its work ahead of
the interim Gap SAR contract
due to commence this summer
from Sumburgh and Stornoway
will ensure it has the building
blocks in place to make a smooth
transition to the new contract.
One of the things we have had
to demonstrate is resilience in the
system we cant afford to go off-
line at any of the bases, he says.
Bristow picked the develop-
mental AW189 for the shorter-
range operations, says Tye, based
on successful experience with the
smaller AW139 in the SAR role.
The AW139 is a proven SAR
machine and we see the benets
of the lessons learned from that
being transferred to the new air-
craft, he says.
Additionally, it is the launch
customer for the type and will re-
ceive its rst example, congured
for oil and gas operations, in Sep-
tember this year allowing it to
gain valuable experience with the
new super-medium rotorcraft.
The rst SAR-roled AW189s will
follow in the rst half of 2014.
Its crewmen are working with
the airframer, which will produce
the helicopters at its Yeovil, UK fac-
tory, to develop a bespoke mission
management system for the rear of
the aircraft, designed to maximise
the available space.
Visit our dedicated section for
helicopter news and analysis at
ightglobal.com/helicopters
The AW139 is a
proven SAR machine
SIMON TYE
SAR project manager, Bristow
THIS WEEK
9-15 April 2013
|
Flight International
|
9 fightglobal.com
SpaceX ramps up
bid for reusability
THIS WEEK P10
POLITICS
Raptors arrival not to deter North
B
oeing and Lockheed Martin
look to be locked into battle
over a 60-ghter export sale to
South Korea, as the US Depart-
ment of Defense has formally no-
tied the US Congress of poten-
tial sales of the Boeing F-15SE
Silent Eagle and Lockheed Martin
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
The Euroghter Typhoon is
also up for the F-X III ghter com-
petition, but is regarded by ana-
lysts as an outside contender.
For the potential F-35 sale, the
Defense Security Cooperation
Agency (DSCA) says that South
Korea could order 60 convention-
al A-model aircraft and associat-
ed support equipment for $10.8
billion. There would also be pro-
visions for spares, including nine
additional Pratt & Whitney F135
afterburning turbofans. The pack-
age would also encompass train-
ing including simulators.
Lockheed Martin says it is
pleased the Congressional notica-
tion process is under way, but notes
that competing bids are still being
evaluated by South Korea and price
discussions are ongoing.
Boeings F-15SE Silent Eagle
offering is a somewhat more com-
EXPORTS DAVE MAJUMDAR WASHINGTON DC
South Korea weighs up rival ghters
Eurofghter Typhoon an outsider as US DoD notifes Congress of potential sales of Boeing F-15SE and Lockheed F-35
Seoul is looking to buy 60 new jets to add to its existing fleet of F-15K Slam Eagles
tion of their bid would cost. In a
written statement, Boeing adds:
We are condent our Silent
Eagle offering is best suited to ad-
dress F-X requirements.
While he does not rule out the
possibility that South Korea will
opt for the Typhoon, Raymond
Jaworowski, an analyst with Fore-
cast International, says the con-
test will most like come down to
a battle between the F-35 and the
Silent Eagle.
The F-15 and the F-35 are the
frontrunners, he says. South
Korea has previously bought US
ghter aircraft, and it seems likely
thats the way theyll go for this
buy. In the Silent Eagles favour
is the fact that South Korea al-
ready has the older F-15K Slam
Eagle in service. The commonal-
ity factor will come into play,
Jaworowski says. On the other
hand, the F-35 is more and more
becoming the dominant ghter
on the market.
Other factors that play in the
F-35s favour are the fact that
Japan has already ordered the
stealthy fth-generation jet, and
growing threats in the region.
But given the state of the
South Korean tender, I think at
this point its too early to predict
between the F-35 and the F-15,
Jaworowski says.
See Defence P21
plicated bid, because it is a hybrid
of a direct commercial sale and
government-to-government US
foreign military sale (FMS). As
such, the DSCA notication to
Congress is only for certain equip-
ment that would have to be sold
to South Korea to support the
Silent Eagle sale.
Equipment that would be sold
under the auspices of the US
government FMS programme in-
clude 60 Raytheon-built active
electronically scanned array
radar radars but it is not speci-
ed if those are APG-63 (V)3 or
APG-82 sets.
Additionally, the F-15SE sale
would include 60 digital electron-
ic warfare systems, 60 Lockheed
AN/AAQ-33 Sniper targeting
pods, 60 Lockheed AN/AAS-42
infrared search and track systems
and other ancillary hardware. The
estimated cost of the FMS portion
of the sale would be $2.41 billion,
according to the DSCA.
We do feel we have the lower-
cost, better-value bid here, a
Boeing ofcial says but the
company did not say how much
the direct commercial sale por-
For commentary on defence
aviation news from Asia, visit
ightglobal.com/asianskies
B
o
e
in
g
R
e
x

F
e
a
t
u
r
e
s
A flyover by B-2
stealth bombers
enraged North Korea
The US Air Force has deployed a pair
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors to
South Korea as part of the bilateral
Foal Eagle exercise.
However, says the US Department
of Defense, the stealthy ffth-genera-
tion air superiority fghters are sitting
on static display at a US air base
and are not present in South Korea
in order to deter North Korea as has
been widely reported but, rather, to
provide South Korean senior leaders
with an orientation to the aircraft.
The two Raptors, of the Viriginia-
based 94th Fighter Squadron, which
is on a regularly scheduled rotation
to Kadena air base in Japan, arrived
in Korea on 31 March.
Even by its standards, the nucle-
ar-armed Norths rhetorical re-
sponse to the annual joint exercises
has been extraordinarily bellicose.
Of the F-22 deployment, the Norths
Korean Central News agency said
US imperialist warmongers [are]
ceaselessly introducing lots of nu-
clear war hardware into south
Korea. A fyover by B-2 stealth
bombers (pictured) brought this re-
ponse: A nuclear war has turned
out to be an established one on the
Korean Peninsula.
Though outside observers ques-
tion North Koreas ability to deliver
nuclear weapons, KCNA added:
The US nuclear umbrella will never
help protect the puppet group as
it will prove ineffective in face of
the powerful nuclear strikes of
the DPRK.
THIS WEEK
fightglobal.com 10
|
Flight International
|
9-15 April 2013
For a round-up of our latest online news,
feature and multimedia content visit
ightglobal.com/wotw
E
lon Musk, SpaceXs chief ex-
ecutive and chief technolo-
gist, has detailed the next steps in
his bid to open an age of full and
frequent rocket reusability, start-
ing with an effort to recover the
used Falcon 9 core stage on its
next ight. He also released de-
tails on a new, reusable version of
the crewed Dragon capsule.
The next launch of Falcon 9 is
the rst ight of a substantial up-
grade to the rocket, called version
1.1 (v1.1), which incorporates
major changes to the engines and
fuel tanks.
The rst stage will continue
in a ballistic arc and execute a
velocity-reduction burn before
hitting the atmosphere just to
lessen the impact, says Musk.
And then right before splash-
down of the stage its going to
light the engine again.
Musk stressed that he does not
expect success on the rst few at-
tempts, but that in the middle of
next year the company hopes to
land the core stage back at its
launch pad. SpaceX is currently
testing the Grasshopper, a Falcon
9 engine and tank assembly that
takes off and lands vertically, but
testing has not advanced to the
point where it resembles a real-
world launch.
In addition, Musk announced
a substantial upgrade of the
Dragon crew capsule, dubbed the
Dragon v.2, especially outtted
for propulsive landings.
The new Dragon, which Musk
says he hopes to formally unveil
later in 2013, will relocate Dragons
thrusters from the bottom of the
capsule to the sides, and have re-
tractable landing struts.
All capsules built to date, in-
cluding current versions of Dragon,
have landed using parachutes to
slow their velocities. A propulsive-
landing capsule could greatly less-
en the structural stresses of land-
ing, making reusability easier.
Musk acknowledges the chal-
lenge of reusability: just 2-3% of a
rockets mass reaches orbit, and
adding structural robustness and
landing gear will add another
2-3%, so he will need every
weight-saving trick in the book
to orbit a useful payload.
T
he US Army is soliciting tech-
nology concepts for a cargo
pocket unmanned air vehicle
(UAV) capable of providing
around the corner tactical intel-
ligence. The solicitation requires
only that concepts t within cer-
tain size, weight and power re-
quirements, and be capable of
station-keeping hovering in-
doors and outside.
The US Army currently has no
such technology deployed among
eld troops. British soldiers in
Afghanistan have recently been
issued with the Prox Dynamics
Black Hornet, a pocket-sized rota-
ry-wing UAV, which they have
operated with rave reviews.
Similar concepts from US com-
panies have included everything
from a miniature quadrotor to a
live beetle controlled via electric
brain stimulation.
The army did not immediately
respond to inquiries.
FACILITIES
New Boeing delivery centre opens
Boeing has expanded its Everett handover facilities with the opening of
a new delivery centre, which it describes as the home of deliveries for
the 747-8, 767, 777 and 787.
The 180,000ft
2
(16,700m
2
) facility has three times the offce, confer-
ence and delivery operations space as the old delivery centre and is
designed to increase operational effciency.
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UNMANNED SYSTEMS ZACH ROSENBERG WASHINGTON DC
US Army sends out call
for nano-UAV concepts
ROCKETS ZACH ROSENBERG WASHINGTON DC
SpaceX ramps up bid for reusability
Musk also reveals Dragon capsule concept as he details plans to soften Falcon 9 core stages return to terra frma
The Grasshopper test vehicle
is built around a Falcon 9 core
Access analysis of the latest
news from the space sector at
ightglobal.com/hyperbola
The Prox Dynamics Black Hornet is being used by UK soldiers
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The rst stage will
execute a velocity-
reduction burn
before hitting the
atmosphere
ELON MUSK
Chief executive and technologist, SpaceX
S
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THIS WEEK
fightglobal.com 12
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Flight International
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ightglobal.com/wotw
E
ADS chief executive Tom
Enders has consolidated his
grip on the Airbus parent with the
formal creation of a single opera-
tional headquarters in Toulouse, at
the expense of Munich, as part of a
new governance structure that
dramatically reduces the share-
holdings, and inuence, of the
French and German governments.
Enders, who took over last
summer on Louis Galloiss retire-
ment, has long eyed Toulouse as a
single corporate headquarters. In
doing so he sought to sweep away
the last vestiges of a system of
equally shared management dic-
tated by the Franco-German po-
litical deal that created EADS a
decade ago from national aero-
space champions. The company
had already ended the practice of
appointing French and German
co-management; Enders had been
co-chief executive with Gallois
until 2007, when he stepped
down to lead only Airbus.
When the headquarters is fully
operational on 1 September, some
116 jobs currently based in Paris
and 75 in Munich will have been
transferred to Toulouse, which
will host some 500 positions, in-
cluding the integrated functions
of EADS and Airbus human re-
sources and nance, as well as
other key steering functions. The
group will keep around 250 serv-
ice and support functions in Paris
and more than 300 in Munich.
Enders has had a tumultuous
nine months at the helm of EADS.
His preference for Toulouse was
made clear early on in his tenure.
Apart from the obvious opera-
tional efciencies of focusing sen-
ior management in the main loca-
tion of the dominant Airbus
division, Toulouse was seen as a
politic choice to ensure Paris re-
mained comfortable with the
company being led by two Ger-
mans, himself and chief nance
ofcer Harald Wilhelm. Previ-
ously, as with Gallois and his -
nance chief Hans Peter Ring,
those roles were been split be-
tween the two nationalities.
But a bold proposal to resolve
EADSs weak position in military
aerospace by merging with the
UKs BAE Systems was rebuffed
by Berlin. German chancellor
Angela Merkel is believed to have
personally shot down the idea.
Far from being weakened by the
failure of a major initiative, Enders
turned the situation to advantage
by driving for a new governance
deal, agreed in December and for-
mally approved, along with a new
board, on 27 March. Now, the di-
rect and proxy shareholdings of the
French, German and Spanish states
are being cut from nearly half to
less than 30%, and no shareholder
can overrule management.
EADSs new board has ap-
proved a 3.75 billion ($4.8 bil-
lion) buy-back and retirement of
15% of the groups shares. That
move, supported by a cash pile
that at end-2012 stood at 12.3 bil-
lion, should help to maintain a
steady share price as German
proxy holder Daimler and French
counterpart Lagardre sell, possi-
bly on the open market.
STRATEGY DAN THISDELL LONDON
Toulouse move brings EADS together
France embraces consolidated headquarters as German chiefs clear away remnants of shared management structure
Dominant division Airbus is already based in Toulouse
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AIR TRANSPORT
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aircraft profles for the latest news, images
and information on civil and military
programmes at ightglobal.com/proles
E
va Air has reinforced training
to enhance its ight crews
awareness and understanding of
cabin altitude anomalies after one
of its aircraft made an emergency
landing last year when the cabin
failed to pressurise properly.
The Boeing 747-400 (B-16411)
was operating on the Taipei Taoy-
uan-Shanghai Pudong route
when the incident happened on
25 March 2012.
The aircraft had taken off at
10:44 and during the climb, it en-
countered a left outlet valve mal-
function and abnormal cabin alti-
tude, Taiwans Aviation Safety
Council says.
The councils ndings show that
the cabin pressure control systems
left outlet valve had failed, result-
ing in it being partially closed at a
nine oclock position. The position
of the valve prevented the aircraft
from pressurising normally and re-
sulted in high cabin altitude.
The continuous leaking of
cabin pressure led the cabin alti-
tude warning to sound when the
aircraft was at 20,800ft (6,340m).
Statements from the ight crew
and data from the cockpit voice re-
corder showed the crew did not
recognise any abnormality until
the cabin altitude was at 8,600ft.
When they found out, the cap-
tain requested for the aircraft to
level to 20,000ft. The pilots per-
formed an outow valve proce-
dure, but the cabin altitude con-
tinued to rise above 10,000ft,
causing a warning to sound.
The captain then declared a
Mayday and initiated an emer-
gency descent, taking over as the
ying pilot. Oxygen masks were
also deployed.
However, an inquiry showed
that the cabin altitude was actu-
ally recovering after the rst of-
cer manually closed the outow
valve, and that the crew failed to
recognise that the cabin altitude
was controllable.
Simulation ights conducted
by the Civil Aeronautics Admin-
istration showed that emergency
descent could be avoided if the
ight crew had applied the
[quick-reference handbook] pro-
cedure correctly.
The safety council reviewed
the carriers training syllabus and
found that most of its training for
emergency descent involved
rapid decompression. It has
since asked Eva to adjust the syl-
labus to enhance its crews aware-
ness and understanding of cabin
altitude anomalies.
I
talian investigators have dis-
closed that emergency vehicles
did not arrive at the scene of an
accident involving an Alitalia
ATR 72 landing in Rome until
10min after the crash alarm.
The aircraft, operated by Ro-
manias Carpatair, landed on
Rome Fiumicinos runway 16L
but veered off, sustaining sub-
stantial damage.
It touched down 567m (1,860ft)
from the threshold but bounced
three times before the nose-gear
as well as the main gear col-
lapsed, says Italian investigation
authority ANSV.
The aircraft slid on its fuselage
for another 500m and spun nearly
180, coming to rest 1,780m from
the threshold and 30m from the
right-hand edge of the runway.
ANSV says the crash site was
almost directly opposite the re
station just 400m away. While
the accident occurred at night,
visibility at the time was more
than 10km.
But although the control tower
activated an alarm less than 50s
after the accident, emergency ve-
hicles followed a circuitous route
to the site, arriving almost 10min
later by which time all the oc-
cupants had evacuated them-
selves from the wreckage.
After emerging from the re
station, emergency personnel had
queried the location of the air-
craft, and the tower responded
that the crash site was near link
taxiway DE.
But the vehicles drove along
the main taxiway D, parallel to
the runway, almost to the far end,
before backtracking along the
runway itself.
Ground-track surveillance in-
dicates that the vehicles then
drove past the crash site, travel-
ling 700m beyond, before turning
around and arriving.
ANSV says the evidence sug-
gests the re brigade did not
seem to have full knowledge of
the position of the taxiway.
But it also points out that the
tower did not transmit a grid-
map reference, which would
have positively identied the
crash location.
There was no re but 24 of the
50 on board ight AZ1670 from
Pisa were transported to medical
facilities outside the airport after
the 2 February accident.
ANSV is still investigating the
cause of the crash. But it has is-
sued safety recommendations
pointing out that re and rescue
response times should be 2min
for the runway and no more than
3min for any other area.
It had previously identied,
and highlighted, similar prob-
lems with the time to locate air-
craft wreckage, after the crash of
an Airbus A319 at Palermo in
September 2010.
ROME FIUMICINO CRASH RESPONSE
Flightglobal
19:32:33 Flight AZ1670 comes to rest
19:33:22 Tower activates crash alarm
19:35:22 Rescue vehicles deploy from fre station
19:43:02 Rescue teams arrive at crash site
1
2
3
4
Runway 16L
Taxiway D
1
2
4
3
Link taxiway DE
INVESTIGATION MAVIS TOH SINGAPORE
Crew could have
avoided Eva 747s
urgent descent
Taiwanese inquiry fnds failure to recognise cabin altitudes
recovery from pressure problem led to unnecessary Mayday
Oxygen masks were deployed on board the Shanghai-bound jet
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OPERATIONS DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
Rescue fasco followed
turboprop crash at Rome
ANSV points out the
tower did not transmit
a grid-map reference,
which would have
positively identied
the crash location
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AIR TRANSPORT
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programmes at ightglobal.com/proles
P
ilots of an Etihad Airways
Airbus A340-600 diverted to
Singapore after a sudden en-
counter with turbulent weather
during cruise generated unrelia-
ble airspeed data and left the jet
unable to maintain altitude sepa-
ration requirements.
While en route to Melbourne at
35,000ft, and approaching the
PIPOV waypoint over the Indian
Ocean, the returns from the air-
crafts weather radar which had
no auto-tilt function suddenly
intensied to indicate surround-
ing convective weather.
Airspeed on the captains pri-
mary ight display rapidly
dropped from 283kt (524km/h) to
77kt before uctuating, and the
standby instrument recorded a
fall from 280kt to 142kt. The rst
ofcers reading stayed stable.
United Arab Emirates investi-
gators from the General Civil Avi-
ation Authority determined that
the autopilot and autothrottle, as
well as the ight directors, disen-
gaged and the A340 switched to
alternate ight-control law a
mode in which angle-of-attack
protection is lost.
The preliminary inquiry says
that the aircraft had started to de-
part from its altitude after the au-
topilot disengaged, performing an
inadvertent climb which took
it 832ft above its assigned
35,000ft cruise level.
Within about 20s, the airspeed
indications recovered and the jet
reverted to normal law. But about
a minute after the initial distur-
bance began, the airspeed began
uctuating again. This second
disturbance, lasting about 44s,
again caused the A340 to drop
into alternate law and discon-
nected the autothrust.
Since the rst ofcers instru-
ments appeared to be functioning
correctly, the captain designated
him as the ying pilot. The rst
ofcer returned the aircraft to its
assigned altitude.
Although the airspeed indica-
tions stabilised, and the auto-
thrust was re-engaged, the crew
could not bring the autopilot back
online, and the rst ofcer con-
tinued to y the jet manually. The
A340 remained in alternate law
for the rest of the ight.
The crew transmitted that the
aircraft (A6-EHF) could not main-
tain altitude owing to the jets
performance and the turbulence,
and that it had lost the capability
to operate in reduced vertical
separation minima airspace.
It subsequently descended to
conventional airspace at 29,000ft
and diverted to Singapore. None of
the 295 occupants was injured.
While the inquiry into the Etihad
A340-600 incident highlights that
icing is notably a cause of unreliable
airspeed indications at high altitude,
it has yet to establish conclusions
about the event.
But the circumstances bear a
similarity to those preceding the Air
France fight AF447 accident in June
2009, when an A330 cruising at
35,000ft (10,700m) few into a
storm cell, resulting in the icing of its
pitot system.
The General Civil Aviation
Authority says that dispatch docu-
mentation provided to the Etihad
crew included charts indicating an
isolated embedded cumulonimbus
cloud up to 45,000ft in the area of
the incident.
Analysis showed that the A340s
weather radar, set on manual tilt,
showed almost no refectivity be-
fore the turbulence started to in-
crease. The radar returns then
sharply intensifed.
An incorrect tilt may lead [the
radar] to only scan the upper, less
refective, part of a cell, the inquiry
notes. As a consequence, a cell
may not be detected or may be
underestimated.
Use of weather radar to avoid
storm-cell penetration emerged as
an issue in the AF447 investigation.
Icing led to airspeed fuctuations
and switching to alternate control
law, and the crews response result-
ed in an advertent climb and high-
altitude stall.
As in the case of the Air France
incident, three pilots one of whom
had returned to the cockpit after a
rest period worked to resolve the
Etihad situation.
Despite resetting all the fight-
control and fight-guidance computers,
as well as other systems, by using
quick-reference handbook procedures,
the pilots were not able to re-engage
either of the two autopilots.
OPERATIONS
Icing suspected as circumstances parallel AF447 event
SAFETY DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
Storm scrambled A340 airspeed data
Investigators examine use of weather radar after unreliable indications and control-law changes led to Singapore diversion
Pilots of the Etihad aircraft were unable to restore the autopilot
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AIR TRANSPORT
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|
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aircraft profles for the latest news, images
and information on civil and military
programmes at ightglobal.com/proles
P
hilippine Airlines is studying
the proposed Boeing 777X as
well as the Airbus A350 as part of
its reeeting plans, with the car-
rier looking at 10-20 of either air-
craft type.
Last year the ag carrier inked
orders with Airbus for 34 A321s,
10 A321neos and 20 heavier-
weight A330-300s. It had previ-
ously said that it aimed to pur-
chase 100 new aircraft and retire
its older and uneconomical wide-
bodies to compete more effective-
ly in the long-haul market.
PAL is evaluating the 777X
versus the A350, president
Ramon Ang conrms to Flight In-
ternational, but declines to give
further details.
Boeing is still rening the de-
sign and business case for the
777X before requesting authority
from the companys board to
launch the programme.
Judging by the development
schedule of the General Electric
GE9X, the exclusive powerplant
Boeing has chosen for the 777X,
the aircraft will probably enter
service only after mid-2019.
PAL has not indicated which
variant of the A350 is being con-
sidered but Boeing views the
A350-1000 as competition to fu-
ture 777 developments. The
A350-1000, powered exclusively
by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB en-
gines, is intended to enter service
in 2017.
FLEET MAVIS TOH SINGAPORE
PALs plan to pit A350 against 777X
Filipino carrier to examine new widebodies from both Airbus and Boeing as focus switches from short to long haul
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Ageing A340-300s ply some of the Asia-Pacific carriers routes
START-UP
Pact to create Cambodian operator
Philippine Airlines has agreed to set
up a Cambodian joint-venture carrier
with Cambodian conglomerate The
Royal Group.
The agreement was signed by
Philippine Airlines president
Ramon Ang and Royal Group chair-
man Kith Meng in Phnom Penh on
2 April.
A source close to the discus-
sions says PAL will likely take a
49% stake in the new carrier,
Cambodia Airlines, while its partner
will hold 51%. It will operate both
domestic and regional routes, prob-
ably with Cambodian-registered
Airbus A321s, although it is unclear
when it will begin operations.
San Miguel, which holds a 49%
stake in PAL, declines to comment.
Cambodia Airlines will compete
with fag carrier and A321 operator
Cambodia Angkor Air, which is ma-
jority owned by the local govern-
ment. Vietnam Airlines holds 49%.
Several airlines have started up
in Cambodia over the years, only to
cease due to mounting losses.
B
razilian investigators are prob-
ing an emergency landing by
a Gol Boeing 737-700 after which
the aircraft was found to have less
than 600kg (1,320lb) of fuel left.
The budget airlines crew de-
clared an emergency following
two go-arounds while attempting
to land at Imperatriz, in darkness,
on 5 February.
In a report citing information
from Brazilian investigation au-
thority CENIPA, the US National
Transportation Safety Board says
the crew had executed a go-
around during the initial attempt
to land as a result of an unstabi-
lised approach.
The crew then performed an-
other go-around on the second ap-
proach because fog was obscuring
the runway, the NTSB says.
Weather data appears to indicate
the presence of thunderstorm ac-
tivity but good visibility.
This second missed approach
was followed by the declaration of
an emergency due to low fuel.
Following a diversion to Sao
Luis, some 260nm (480km) to the
north, the aircraft (PR-VBI) land-
ed uneventfully. The NTSB states
that after the aircrafts CFM Inter-
national CFM56 engines were
shut down inspectors discovered
just 550kg of fuel remaining. The
US agency is assisting in the
CENIPA-led investigation.
None of the 52 passengers was
injured, and the aircraft was not
damaged, says the NTSB.
Gol 737s go-around and diversion depletes tanks
INVESTIGATION GHIM-LAY YEO WASHINGTON DC
J
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After two missed landings at Imperatriz, the Brazilian carriers crew opted to fly instead to Sao Luis
fightglobal.com
AIR TRANSPORT
SAFETY
Protection activated on Marseille A320
French investigators have said the
stall-protection system activated on an
Air France Airbus A320 during the fnal
stages of an approach to Marseille.
The aircraft had been operating a
domestic service from Paris Charles
de Gaulle on 11 March, says the
French investigation authority BEA.
Surveillance data indicates that
the aircraft (F-HBNE) started de-
scending towards Marseille from the
northwest as it passed Clermont-
Ferrand at about 14:00 local time.
BEA says it was performing a visual
approach to runway 31L requiring
the aircraft to pass the airport and
turn back and that the incident oc-
curred as it made its fnal turn.
High angle-of-attack protection
activated, says the BEA in a bulletin,
without further detail on the circum-
stances. The aircraft descended to a
minimum height of 700ft (210m).
Meteorological data from the time
of the incident, around 14:30, con-
frms good visibility and winds of 9kt
(17km/h) from the west.
BEA says the crew executed a go-
around before performing another
visual approach and landing. None of
the A320s occupants was injured.
Marseille has two parallel run-
ways, of which 31L is the shorter at
2,370m (7,776ft).
N
orwegian investigators have
opened an inquiry into a
near-stall incident involving a
Boeing 737-800 on approach.
The aircraft, operated by low-
cost carrier Norwegian, had been
conducting a domestic Finnish
service from Helsinki to Kittila.
Norways investigation author-
ity SHT says ight DY5630 had
been established on the instru-
ment landing system approach to
runway 34.
But as the aircraft descended
through 3,250ft (990m), with its
autopilot engaged, it began an
unintentional steep climb under
full engine power, SHT says.
The aircrafts trailing-edge de-
vices had been congured in the
aps 5 position.
SHT says the aircraft climbed
1,500ft but adds that the airspeed
bled away. The aircraft came
close to a stall, it says, although
it does not indicate whether any
alarms or protections activated.
However, the pilots managed to
regain control of the aircraft.
It landed safety at Kittila and
subsequent test ights of the twin-
jet (LN-DYM), which had been de-
livered new to Norwegian in 2011,
did not indicate any problems.
Weather conditions at Kittila on
the day indicate good visibility
and temperatures around -20C.
SHT has classied the 26 De-
cember 2012 incident as a seri-
ous event. It has obtained ight-
data recordings and opened a
probe, in co-operation with Boe-
ing and the US National Trans-
portation Safety Board.
INQUIRY DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
Probe opens after
737 nearly stalls
Investigators examine sudden climb and loss of airspeed as
Norwegian-operated twinjet was descending towards Kittila
M
a
r
t
in

N
e
e
d
h
a
m
Pilots managed to regain control of the aircraft and land safely
AIR TRANSPORT
fightglobal.com 20
|
Flight International
|
9-15 April 2013
Check out our collection of online dynamic
aircraft profles for the latest news, images
and information on civil and military
programmes at ightglobal.com/proles
P
acic regional carrier Samoa
Air is introducing a fare
structure based on the individual
weight of its passengers and their
baggage.
Serving a network that in-
cludes Tonga and American
Samoa, the carrier uses a eet of
small aircraft, including the Brit-
ten-Norman BN2 Islander. This
means the weight of passengers is
a critical factor in its operations.
Passengers booking with the
carrier are asked to provide an es-
timated weight, although Samoa
Air says that they will be re-
weighed at the airport. The fare is
then calculated on this basis and
guarantees the individual a pre-
paid personal weight allocation
for the ight. You travel happy
knowing full well that you are
only paying for exactly what you
weigh nothing more, says the
carrier. You are the master of
how much, or little, your air
ticket will cost.
B
ritish Airways is considering
a proposal to display its rst
Airbus A380 at the 50th Paris air
show, lifting the air transport side
of a event from which other high-
prole aircraft appear destined to
be absent.
The Airbus A350 and Bombar-
dier CSeries are unlikely to make
an appearance, while the Boeing
787 will need to be cleared to y
before participating.
Paris air show managing direc-
tor Gilles Fournier says the A350
and CSeries could not be ready
for Paris. They will probably go
to Farnborough or Berlin, he
says. Both shows will be held in
2014. The A350 is due to make its
maiden ight this summer, while
the rst CSeries prototype, FTV-1,
is scheduled for rst ight by late
June. Two 787s one from Qatar
Airways and one from Boeing
are planned to feature in the
shows static display. Fournier
says, however, that the 787s pres-
ence at the show is contingent on
whether US regulators clear the
aircraft to y to Paris.
If its ready, it will y, he
says. The Paris air show will be
held from 17 to 21 June.
British Airways is due to take
delivery of its rst Rolls-Royce
Trent 900-powered aircraft in July
a month after the Paris show.
One of Korean Airs A380s was
recruited as a stand-in demonstra-
tor during the last Paris event in
2011, after the regular Airbus test
aircraft was slightly damaged in a
taxiing accident. The display ight
proved popular and Airbus subse-
quently showed off a Malaysia
Airlines A380 at last years Farn-
borough show. BA says it has re-
ceived a similar proposition.
Were looking at it, says a source
at the carrier familiar with the situ-
ation, but adds that the carrier has
yet to make a nal decision.
Once delivered, the BA aircraft
congured with 469 seats will
be deployed on short-haul routes
for training. The carrier has already
disclosed that Los Angeles and
Hong Kong will be among the rst
long-haul destinations for the jet,
with A380 services starting to these
cities in October-November. Three
of the ag-carriers A380s have been
own to the Airbus facility at Ham-
burg Finkenwerder the latest on
25 March to be nished and
painted in the airlines livery.
L
ufthansa expects to place a
major order for long-range air-
craft to replace its Airbus A340s
and Boeing 747-400s in the fourth
quarter.
The carrier is still waiting for
information from the airframers,
says Jurgen Weber, the chairman
of the carriers supervisory board.
We will make the decision on
long-range aircraft in the last
quarter of this year, he said dur-
ing a brieng in Washington DC
at the end of March. Weber de-
clined to specify the number of
aircraft the airline would order
but said two-thirds will be re-
placement jets for its A340s and
747-400s, while the remaining
third will be for growth.
It will be a major order, says
Weber. He adds that the airline
would have placed an order for
long-range aircraft earlier, but it
did not have the necessary data
on future long-haul types such as
the Boeing 777X and Airbus
A350. Boeing has not said when
the 777X will enter service, but
the General Electric GE9X power-
ing the type is not scheduled to
be certicated until May 2018.
Airbus plans rst deliveries of
the A350-900 to take place in the
second half of 2014.
The longest-range variant of
the A350, the -1000, will enter
into service in 2017.
Lufthansa operates 48 A340s
equally split between -300s and
-600s plus 18 747-400s. The air-
lines newly-released 2012 annu-
al report shows it is due to take
delivery of 15 Boeing 747-8s,
seven A380s, three A330s and
ve 777Fs in 2013-2016.
AIRFRAMES DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON
British A380 could top Paris
billing if new types miss out
UK carrier considers displaying at 50th show amid probable absence of A350 and CSeries
FLEET
MICHAEL GUBISCH LONDON
Lufthansa gears
up to decide on
long-range order
BA is set to take delivery of the 469-seat aircraft in July and open Los Angeles flights in October
Samoa passengers to pay by weight
OPERATIONS
We will make
the decision in
the last quarter
of this year
JURGEN WEBER
Chairman, Lufthansa supervisory board
The Airline Business blog offers
commentary on airline news, at
ightglobal.com/abblog
9-15 April 2013
|
Flight International
|
21 fightglobal.com
Jakarta deals fow
for Airbus Military
DEFENCE P22
NEWS FOCUS
F
ormer US Navy chief of naval
operations Adm Gary Roug-
head says the US Department of
Defense (DoD) should consider
eliminating the F-35A version of
the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike
Fighter (JSF) in favour of the
carrier-based F-35C.
In recent weeks the idea has
gathered momentum, with cur-
rent and former defence ofcials
saying the Pentagons ofce of
Cost Assessment and Program
Evaluation (CAPE) is studying
the idea although the DoD of-
cially denies these claims.
Roughead says the question
must be asked as to whether it is
better to reduce the number of
F-35 variants to two a short
take-off and vertical landing vari-
ant and one version that can take-
off and land conventionally. My
simple logic says it probably is,
but there are a lot of factors that
go into it, he says.
Roughead says it makes sense
to have the US Air Force adopt
the C-model jet because it can
operate from land bases as well as
from the US Navys 11 big deck
aircraft carriers, whereas the
A model cannot. The reason that
I said to go with the C is because
you will still want to be able to
use the JSF from aircraft carriers,
he says.
REDUCED COSTS
While a lot of analytical work
would have to be carried out,
Roughead says it is possible that
reducing the number of variants
could reduce the F-35s consider-
able life-cycle costs currently
estimated to top $1.1 trillion.
Roughead says he has not
talked to anyone at the DoD
about his suggestion, but a
number of current and former
defence ofcials say CAPE is ex-
amining the idea. Im sure
CAPE is looking at this, says
one senior government ofcial,
although he adds that he does
not know how serious a look.
Another senior ofcial also says
CAPE is looking at eliminating the
A-model. During the latest se-
questration drill, CAPE took an-
other run on cutting out one of the
variants of the JSF, he says. The
argument is the air force should
do it and buy the C version.
The Ofce of the Secretary of
Defense (OSD), however, insists
CAPE is not looking at cancelling
the F-35A.
Meanwhile, after spending 12
years fronting the F-35 pro-
gramme, retiring Lockheed ex-
ecutive vice-president Tom Bur-
bage is now able to look back in
hindsight on a few key lessons
that could have spared the pro-
gramme a costly redesign and a
troubled relationship with
international partners. Leading
the rst globalised defence pro-
gramme, the F-35 team initially did
not fully understand the challenges
of sharing information between
hundreds of suppliers spanning
across multiple countries. I dont
think anybody really understood,
because it had never been done be-
fore, what it means to have nine
countries all competing for work,
Burbage says.
On previous programmes most
foreign involvement was handled
through the US government
through the foreign military sales
system. On this programme, up-
front, we had to gure out how
you go involve industry early on
and how does the system work,
he says.
One of the lessons Burbage
says he learned is that all of the
companies involved in a project
the size and scope of the F-35
need to be on the same informa-
tion technology systems to share
data seamlessly. You want to
have them all on the same set of
tools when you start, he says.
Discoveries happen during
every aircraft developmental ef-
fort, but the F-35 encountered
several unanticipated problems
that Burbage says could not have
been foreseen. Certainly there
are some things looking back that
we would have changed to avoid
the weight issue and things like
that, had we known it was lurk-
ing in the models, Burbage says.
UNFORESEEN DIFFICULTIES
During the early years of the
programme between 2004 and
2005, company and government
parametric engineering models
began to show that the weight of
the F-35B short take-off vertical
landing version of the aircraft was
getting too high.
Somewhere along the way we
made an error in our parametric
weight models, Burbage says.
Turned out we were predicting
the things that we knew about
pretty well, the structural parts
were pretty close, the small detail
parts were pretty close.
What wasnt predicted well
by the model was stealth and
internal weapons bays because
the airplane that had those
capabilities werent part of the
database.
Logic of F-35A questioned
FIGHTERS DAVE MAJUMDAR WASHINGTON DC
Ex-US Navy admiral proposes eliminating conventional take-off JSF variant to focus on carrier-based alternative
U
S

A
ir

F
o
r
c
e
The Office of the Secretary of Defense insists that CAPE is not looking at cancelling the F-35A
I said to go with the
C because you will
still want to be able to
use the JSF from
aircraft carriers
GARY ROUGHEAD
Former USN chief of naval operations
For commentary on defence
aviation news, visit our blog at
ightglobal.com/dewline
fightglobal.com 22
|
Flight International
|
9-15 April 2013
For free access to Flightglobals Defence
e-newsletter visit ightglobal.com/
defencenewsletter
DEFENCE
A
irbus Military and PT
Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI)
have signed a comprehensive
agreement for the development of
the NC212i, an upgraded version
of the C212 light transport.
Under the terms of the agree-
ment, the companies will be
long-term, risk-sharing partners
with engineering and manufac-
turing being led by PTDI, sup-
ported by Airbus Military, and
certication being an Airbus
Military responsibility, says the
European company. The air-
craft will be delivered from
Bandung in Indonesia and will
be promoted and supported by
PTDI and Airbus Military teams
worldwide, it adds.
The deal was signed at the
Langkawi International Maritime
& Aerospace exhibition in
Malaysia in late March.
The two companies rst an-
nounced plans for the NC212i in
November 2012. The aircraft will
feature new digital avionics and a
new autopilot, and have capacity
for up to 28 passengers in its ci-
vilian version, compared with 25
for the earlier C212.
Airbus Military forecasts a
market for 400-450 aircraft of this
size in the next decade.
Meanwhile, Indonesia could
obtain up to seven additional
Airbus Military C295 tactical
transport aircraft, which would
bring its eventual total of the
type to 16 examples.
The air force requires an ad-
ditional seven aircraft, says
Arie Wibowo, vice-president
marketing and sales for PTDI.
Having 16 will allow them to
form a full squadron.
Jakarta entered a deal for nine
C295s at the Singapore air show
in February 2012.
In addition to Jakartas air force
requirements, PTDI is pitching
two C295s to the Indonesian Na-
tional Police. The police would
use them to transport special
counter-terrorism teams.
PTDI is also working with
Airbus Military to promote the
twin-engined turboprop to Ma-
laysia and the Philippines.
Jakarta has already received
two completed aircraft (designat-
ed as the CN295 in Indonesian
service) from Airbus Militarys
Seville factory.
The next ve aircraft will be
delivered in a green condition,
with PTDI to customise the air-
craft at a new delivery centre in
Bandung that it has set up for the
C295 programme.
The last two aircraft of the origi-
nal nine will be produced at a
Bandung nal assembly line,
using kits sent from Airbus Mili-
tary. The nal assembly line
would be used for the potential
follow-on order for seven aircraft.
Wibowo says PTDI also acts as
a tier-one supplier in the pro-
gramme, producing the rear fuse-
lage and the tail empennage.
M
BDA may pursue a Middle
Eastern partnership as it con-
tinues its efforts to expand the ca-
pabilities of its anti-ship missiles.
The growth potential of [the]
Marte anti-ship missile family
has attracted the interest of an
Arabian Gulf industrial partner,
looking to jointly develop the
new extended-range version of
the family, said Antonio Perfetti,
managing director of the MBDAs
Italian branch and executive
group director sales and business
development, during the Europe-
an consortiums 2012 results con-
ference in Rome on 22 March,
While he declined to provide
further detail, Flight International
understands that the United Arab
Emirates is the nation interested
in a joint development of the new
version, and that subsidiaries of
state-owned investment company
Tawazun Holding are to be in-
volved in the programme.
Tawazun Precision Industries
entered into an agreement with
MBDA during the 2011 IDEX ex-
hibition in Abu Dhabi to manufac-
ture various components for the
Marte family. The company pro-
duces the newly developed canis-
ter for the Mk2/N ship-launched
version of the missile. This is part
of the equipment of the UAE naval
forces Ghannatha fast boat, the
rst of which has been delivered.
Tawazun Precision Industries
also inked a supply agreement
with Selex ES at the 2013 IDEX
exhibition in February to manu-
facture various components for
the Finmeccanica subsidiarys RF
seekers, a key component in the
MBDA Italy Marte/Otomat anti-
ship missile family.
The Marte ER is planned to op-
erate at ranges in excess of 100km
(54nm) and be capable of being
carried by medium-to-heavy heli-
copters. But it should also be pos-
sible to launch the equipment
from xed-wing combat and mar-
itime patrol aircraft, have compa-
rable life cycle costs to the current
version and offer growth poten-
tial, including a man-in-the-loop
and land attack strike with a
heavier warhead.
MBDA Italy has already com-
pleted ground tting-out trials of
a Marte ER maquette with the
Euroghter Typhoon.
Aside from the extended range
and naval (Mk2/N) versions, the
Marte missile family includes
the helicopter-based (Mk2/S)
and aircraft-launched (Mk2/A)
models. A dummy version of the
latter has been dropped from an
Airbus Military C295 maritime
patrol aircraft.
DEVELOPMENT GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE
Jakarta deals ow
for Airbus Military
Agreement with Indonesia to develop upgraded C212 light
transport may be followed by order for up to seven C295s
The C212, seen here in Argentinean service, will gain new avionics
A dummy version of the Mk2/A has been dropped from a C295
WEAPONS LUCA PERUZZI ROME
MBDA looks to go the
distance with Marte
M
B
D
A
For the latest news and analysis
from the defence aviation sector,
go to ightglobal.com/defence
The Marte ER is
planned to operate
at ranges in excess
of 100km (54nm)
A
ir
b
u
s

M
ilit
a
r
y
DEFENCE
9-15 April 2013
|
Flight International
|
23 fightglobal.com
CRJ700s next test
for Flying Colours
BUSINESS AVIATION P25
B
oeing and the US Air Force
will have to recerticate the
new F-15SAs performance over
the entire ight envelope be-
cause of its new y-by-wire
ight-control systems.
The ight test to certify air-
worthiness will take approxi-
mately a year and a half to accom-
plish, says the USAF.
Fly-by-wire represents a depar-
ture from the traditional F-15
hybrid electronic/mechanical
ight-control system. Previous in-
carnations of the jet were equipped
with a dual-channel, high-author-
ity, three-axis control augmenta-
tion system superimposed on top
of a hydro-mechanical system.
However, Saudi Arabias 84
F-15SAs will have two outer
wing weapons stations activated,
making a y-by-wire ight-con-
trol system necessary. The main
benet for the y-by-wire system
is to compensate for the stability
differences induced by carrying
weapons in the one and nine sta-
tions not used to date on any
F-15 platform, the USAF says.
It adds it is not yet known how
the redesigned ight control sys-
tem will affect the pilot: It is too
early in the ight test programme
to appropriately characterise [the]
feel of the ight controls.
The rst F-15SA, an advanced
derivative of the F-15E, ew a lim-
ited ight envelope on 20 Febru-
ary. Other upgrades for the F-15SA
include an active electronically
scanned array radar and a digital
electronic warfare system.
The USAF will not activate the
outer wing weapons stations on its
own F-15Es, it says. Nor will the
y-by-wire controls be retrotted
to existing USAF Strike Eagles.
Raymond Jaworowski, an ana-
lyst with Forecast International,
says there are two reasons for
Boeing and the USAF to undertake
the difcult task of redesigning the
F-15s ight-control systems this
late into the aircrafts life-cycle.
The rst is that Saudi Arabia
might have asked for certain capa-
bilities. It is fairly sizeable order,
Jaworowski says. So whatever
they can do to satisfy the customer
would be in their best interests.
A second possible reason for
the extensive modication, he
says, is that Boeing wants to keep
the F-15 in production for as long
as possible, helping the company
compete on the world market be-
fore Lockheed Martins F-35 be-
comes dominant.
F
our contractors met the 2
April deadline to submit bids
in Polands advanced jet trainer
(AJT) contest, the nations de-
fence ministry has revealed.
They are: Czech Aero Vodo-
chody, which is offering the
L-159T1; Alenia Aermacchi, with
the M-346 Master; BAE Systems,
with the Hawk AJT; and Lockheed
Martin UK, probably pitching the
T-50 Golden Eagle, developed
jointly with Korea Aerospace
Industries.
Ministry spokesman Jacek
Sonta says the inspectorate of
armaments will now start evalu-
ating whether the bidders full
conditions of participation.
Of the four, only BAE Systems
has publicly commented on its in-
volvement in the competition.
BAE Systems conrms it has sub-
mitted a response to the tender an-
nouncement for the Poland AJT
requirement and looks forward to
continued discussions regarding
this opportunity. Our offering will
be based upon the proven Hawk
Advanced Jet Trainer, says Paul
Dawkins, head of the Hawk AJT
campaign for Poland.
Warsaw is interested in acquir-
ing eight newly manufactured
AJT aircraft. Unofcially, techni-
cal negotiations are to start in mid-
July, and nal offers should be
submitted in November. The win-
ner will be chosen by year-end,
with the subsequent agreement to
span the period from 15 January
2014 to 30 November 2017.
I
srael Aerospace Industries
Bedek Aviation Group has com-
pleted centre wing box (CWB) re-
placement and rewiring on an Is-
raeli air force Lockheed Martin
C-130 transport.
Bedek has also received an
order from the air force to per-
form complete CWB replace-
ments and rewiring on four addi-
tional aircraft.
The C-130 is cleared for 45,000
ight hours but, to reach that
limit, may require a service-life
extension programme. To this
end, Bedek offers operators a
package including CWB replace-
ment, cockpit upgrades, rewiring
and quick conversion to special-
mission congurations.
IAI says only a handful of
maintenance, repair and overhaul
centres can perform C-130 serv-
ice-life extension programmes.
The Israeli air force is to re-
ceive its rst Lockheed Martin C-
130J Samson in late 2013 or
early 2014. The rst contract
signed in 2010 covers three C-
130Js, but the air force has asked
for a formal proposal for three ad-
ditional aircraft.
The air force is currently oper-
ating 18 C-130E/H transports.
The E-model aircraft are due to be
phased out.
The F-15SA is an advanced derivative of the F-15E, shown here
DEVELOPMENT DAVE MAJUMDAR WASHINGTON DC
Fly-by-wire F-15s require
recertication campaign
Flight tests following installation of new fight-control systems will take 18 months
UPGRADES ARIE EGOZI TEL AVIV
Bedek replaces
centre wing box
on Israeli C-130
Four bidders to do battle in Polish AJT competition
CONTEST BARTOSZ GLOWACKI WARSAW
BAE Systems will offer a version of its Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer
B
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Narly 5CC Exhibits

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www.ebace.aero
BUSINESS AVIATION
9-15 April 2013
|
Flight International
|
25 fightglobal.com
Phenom 300 speeds
to trio of records
BUSINESS AVIATION P26
JETTECH GETS US STC
Aftermarket aircraft modifca-
tions provider Jettech has re-
ceived US supplemental type
certifcation to install the up-
dated Garmin G600 glass cock-
pit on legacy Cessna Citation V
business jets. Jettech founder
Rob Irwin says the new modif-
cation will increase situational
awareness through traffc colli-
sion avoidance systems, digital
weather radar and satellite
weather radar for pilots of the
light-cabin aircraft.
PROPELLERS TAKE OFF
Raisbecks and Hartzells swept-
blade turbofan propellers
have entered service this
month on a privately owned
Beechcraft King Air B200. The
project completed by
Landmark Aviation in Norfolk,
Virginia marks the frst instal-
lation of the Epic Platinum
Performance Package, says
Raisbeck, and features dual
aft-body strakes, enhanced-per-
formance leading edges, wing
lockers, ram-air recovery sys-
tem, high-foat gear doors and
the swept-blade propellers. The
upgrade boosts the twin-en-
gined turborops cruise speed
and take-off performance.
Similar applications for other
King Air models are now under
development, adds Raisbeck.
LEA LEGACY IN TALLINN
UK charter and management
company London Executive
Aviation has taken delivery of
an Embraer Legacy 650 large-
cabin business jet, which will
be based in Tallinn, Estonia.
The aircraft tail number
G-RBND is the ninth Legacy
on LEAs air operators certif-
cate. LEA managing director
George Galanopoulos says:
By basing the new Legacy
650 in Tallinn, it is well placed
to cater for the increasing de-
mand for private air travel in
the Baltic region and comple-
ments the operation of our oth-
er Legacys including G-SYNA,
which has been based in
London since last year.
IN BRIEF
E
clipse Aerospace has received
an amended production cer-
ticate from the US Federal Avia-
tion Administration, paving the
way for the company to perform
nal assembly, testing and certi-
cation of the Eclipse 550 very
light jet.
The original production certi-
cate granted to EAI last year al-
lowed Eclipse to manufacture the
EA550 and requisite parts in
compliance with FAA-approved
type design, but required direct
FAA oversight of the ight-test
and certication phases.
The amended PC now allows
EAI to not only manufacture the
EA550, but also to ight-test and
grant airworthiness certicates
for the aircraft under EAIs FAA-
approved quality system, says
the company, based in Albu-
querque, New Mexico.
Manufacturers are typically
required to build their rst group
of aircraft under the supervision of
the FAA, says Eclipse chief exec-
utive Mason Holland. We have
550s moving down the production
line, and armed with our full green
light from the FAA for nal assem-
bly and test, we are on our way to
delivering jets this year.
The rst of the Pratt & Whitney
Canada PW610F-powered twin-
jets will be handed over in the
third quarter.
The ve-seat EA550 is a mod-
ernised and upgraded version of
the legacy Eclipse 500, complete
with a dual Avio integrated ight
management system, synthetic
vision, enhanced vision, auto-
throttles and anti-skid brakes.
The EA550 is pitched against
the Embraer Phenom 100 and
Cessna Citation Mustang.
S
even Bombardier CRJ700
NextGen regional jets sold as
VIP/special-mission aircraft to an
undisclosed Chinese customer in
December are to be outtted by
Canadian completions company
Flying Colours.
They will the rst CRJ700s to
be completed by the Ontario-
based refurbishment specialist,
which has until now focused on
the smaller CRJ200.
During 2013, Flying Colours will
deliver ve Challenger 850s Bom-
bardiers name for corporate
CRJ200s and has converted 12
used CRJ200s into its own VIP con-
guration, which it markets as the
Execliner. It is also carrying out its
rst completion on a CRJ900, for an
undisclosed US customer, al-
though China is its main market.
The CRJ700s will be completed
over two years, with the rst ar-
riving at Flying Colours Peterbor-
ough site in the fourth quarter of
this year, and the nal aircraft
due for delivery in the rst quar-
ter of 2015.
Flying Colours will source sup-
plemental type certicates for the
conversion and nal certication
will be carried out by the Chinese
civil aviation authority, with
which Flying Colours has worked
for a number of years.
RESULTS
Cessna award
puts Avcorp well
into the black
APPROVAL KATE SARSFIELD LONDON
Eclipse 550 clear
for assembly, test
FAA grants amended production certifcate, green-lighting
development of very light jet, with deliveries set for this year
C
omponents manufacturer Av-
corp reported a net prot of
$20 million for the scal year, fol-
lowing a $27 million award from
Cessna to settle a dispute.
The dispute came about when
Cessna charged that unsatisfac-
tory parts had been received
from Avcorp.
While Avcorp was signed to
be the sole supplier of crucial
parts for Cessnas business jet
lineup, Cessna set up its own
manufacturing line for the same
parts and purchased others from
other suppliers, citing poor per-
formance from Avcorp.
An arbitration panel found
Cessna liable for $27.3 million of
lost revenues for Avcorp.
The award was disputed by
Cessna, but the airframers con-
cerns were overruled.
Avcorp cited renewed deliver-
ies to Boeing and BAE Systems as
crucial to its protability after
Cessnas abrupt termination of its
business relationship.
CRJ700s next test for Flying Colours
COMPLETIONS MURDO MORRISON LONDON
The seven regional jets are destined for a Chinese customer
F
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BUSINESS AVIATION
fightglobal.com 26
|
Flight International
|
9-15 April 2013
Keep up to date with all the latest
business and general aviation news at
ightglobal.com/bizav
INDONESIA S-76D SALES
Indonesian operator Travira Air
has ordered two Sikorsky S-76D
helicopters for offshore trans-
portation. The sale marks the
launch of the medium twin-en-
gined type in Southeast Asia
and will bring Travira Airs feet
to 10 S-76s when the aircraft
are handed over in 2015.
EVERGREEN SELECTION
African business aviation serv-
ices provider Evergreen Apple
Nigeria has been selected by
Avjet Routing, based in Sharjah,
United Arab Emirates, as its pre-
ferred ground handler in Nigeria.
EAN opened the frst business jet
fxed base operation and mainte-
nance facility in Lagos in July
2011 and plans to have FBOs in
18 cities throughout Africa.
WARRANTY EXTENSION
As of 1 April, Bombardier has
extended the basic warranty of
its newly delivered large-cabin
Challenger 605 business jets
from three years or 3,000h to
fve years or 5,000h.
ETS SUPPORT SERVICE
Switzerland-headquartered
business aviation services com-
pany Jet Aviation has expanded
its management support serv-
ice offerings to help aircraft
owners and operators comply
with the 30 April deadline for
emissions allowances under
the European Unions
Emissions Trading System. All
operators that are required to
surrender emission allowances
must open a union registry
account in their appointed
member state and submit the
allowances by the deadline or
face penalties.
RIZON APPROVALS
Rizon Jets Doha facility has
received maintenance organisa-
tion approval from the Pakistan
Civil Aviation Authority, paving
the way for the facility to provide
maintenance, repairs and in-
spections on Bombardier and
Hawker business jets registered
in the country.
IN BRIEF
E
urocopter has pinpointed
corrosion, fatigue and
stress as the causes behind the
failure of a key gearbox compo-
nent that has left the EC225 eet
grounded in large parts of the
world since last October.
Two Super Pumas were forced
to ditch in the North Sea last year
after the bevel gear vertical shaft
in each helicopter sheared in two,
cutting off the lubrication to its
main gearbox.
The airframer had recently con-
ducted a third round of bench and
ight tests on the component as it
carried out an increasingly frantic
search for the cause in the face of
mounting operator frustration.
Eurocopter says it has repli-
cated the crack initiation under
test in scenarios identical to those
of the actual events.
It is proposing a two-step solu-
tion it hopes will lead to the lifting
of the overwater ight restriction
put in place by civil aviation regu-
lators in the UK and Norway.
As a short-term measure it pro-
poses increasing the frequency of
downloads from its HUMS vibra-
tion monitoring system and other
non-destructive testing of in-serv-
ice shafts to allow early warning
of the initiation of any cracks.
In the longer term it will rede-
sign the component for retrot on
all affected models.
The results of its tests are being
evaluated by the UK Air Accidents
Investigation Branch and the Civil
Aviation Authority, alongside Eu-
ropean safety regulator EASA.
Although the effective grounding
only applies to the UK and Norway,
operators have taken a cautious ap-
proach. Bristow Helicopters, for in-
stance, has taken a total of 16 ro-
torcraft out of service 12 in the UK,
one in Norway and a further three
in Australia. Other operators have
acted in a similar manner.
CHC Helicopter, whose EC225
was involved in the October ditch-
ing, has taken around 30 aircraft
out of service globally. Bristow es-
timates that 80 helicopters have
been affected in total, globally.
ROTORCRAFT DOMINIC PERRY LONDON
Worn-out gearbox
grounded EC225s
Eurocopter proposes increased monitoring of vibrations as a
stopgap measure, pending redesign of component for retroft
P
ilatus is planning to take the
wraps off its PC-24 twin-en-
gined business jet on 21 May at
the European Business Aviation
Convention and Exhibition. The
announcement comes less than a
year after the companys board of
directors gave the go-ahead to de-
velop what it calls the biggest,
fastest and most complex aircraft
that Pilatus has ever built.
Although the Switzerland-
based airframer has kept a tight
lid on the programme, Flight
International understands it will
seat up to eight passengers, be
powered by Williams FJ44 en-
gines and feature a cargo door.
The PC-24 is Pilatuss only jet
aircraft offering and will join the
PC-12NG in its business aircraft
stable. The single-engined turbo-
prop was introduced in 2008 as the
latest incarnation of the 19-year-old
PC-12 and features Honeywells
Primus Apex avionics and the
more powerful Pratt & Whitney
Canada PT6A-67P engine. Accord-
ing to Flightglobals Ascend Online
database, the global PC-12 eet to-
tals over 1,150 aircraft, more than
80% of which are used for business
or owner-yer operations.
DEVELOPMENT
EBACE visitors
to get frst look
at Pilatus PC-24
Phenom 300 speeds to trio of records
MILESTONES KATE SARSFIELD LONDON
A
n Embraer Phenom 300 set
three speed records for its
business-jet class when it ew
from the Brazilian airframers US
manufacturing facility in Mel-
bourne, Florida, to Daugherty
Field in Long Beach, California on
28 March with only one fuel stop.
For the initial leg, the light jet
the rst Phenom 300 to roll off the
Melbourne assembly line ew
the 1,380nm (2,550km) route to El
Paso, Texas in 4h 16min 33s. After
a 27min fuel stop, the twinjet com-
pleted its 607nm journey to Long
Beach in 1h 55min 20s. It also se-
cured the Melbourne-El Paso-Long
Beach record of 6h 11min 53s.
All three records are awaiting
certication by the US National
Aeronautic Association.
Access our Phenom 300 fight-
test report and cutaway drawing at
ightglobal.com/phenom300
Phenom 300s are built at Embraers Florida site, from which the flight to Long Beach originated
E
m
b
r
a
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Engineering
the future
The Boeing Engineering Student of the Year Award
recognizes the outstanding talent of tomorrow
both at graduate and undergraduate level.

Presented at the Flightglobal Achievement Awards
at the Paris Air Show in June and now in its eighth
year, the Boeing Engineering Student of the
Year Award is the worlds leading competition to
recognize students whose work shows the greatest
poa'se, opl'lude ocd ded'col'oc 'c lce e|d o
aeronautical or space technology.

As well as the overall award, a special prize will
be given to the best undergraduate submission,
giving global recognition to those working on their
sl deee.

The competition is open to any engineering student
currently enrolled in a programme leading to a
recognized academic degree.
The submission deadline is April 19 2013. Dont miss
your chance to engineer the future.

For more information or to enter now go to:
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ENGINEERING STUDENTS.
YOU COULD BE THIS YEARS
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GENERAL AVIATION
9-15 April 2013
|
Flight International
|
29 fightglobal.com
NASA tightens
security after lapses
SPACEFLIGHT P31
FIREFIGHTING DAUPHIN
Japans Fire and Disaster
Management Agency has taken
delivery of a Eurocopter AS365
N3 Dauphin equipped with a
Helicopter Satellite
Communication System (HSA).
The medium twin-engined air-
craft is expected to enter serv-
ice in April, joining 55 AS365s
in service throughout Japan.
SOCCER SURVEILLANCE
Cobhams Brazilian subsidiary
has secured a contract to equip
state police helicopters with
high-defnition video surveil-
lance downlinks, which will be
used on helicopters in 12 cities
during the 2013 Confederations
Cup and the 2014 World Cup
soccer tournaments. The sys-
tem transmits HD-quality video
that is sharper and clearer than
ordinary standard defnition,
over long distances, ensuring
critical live operational informa-
tion is available to keep cities
safe, says Cobham.
RUSSIA APPROVES R66
Robinson has received Russian
approval for its R66 turbine heli-
copter. The US airframer has
secured 47 orders for the fve-
seat type from Russian custom-
ers, of which 22 are awaiting
export. Eighteen of the Rolls-
Royce RR300-powered aircraft
are in production and sched-
uled for delivery later this year.
SENECA IMPROVEMENT
Piper has selected Aspen
Avionics Evolution back-up dis-
play system for its Seneca V
piston twin series. Evolution is
a fully digital, independent fight-
display system designed to re-
place mechanical back-up in-
struments used in FAA Part 23
glass panel installations.
MORE FLY OSHKOSH
The Experimental Aircraft
Association has added a sec-
ond twilight fying display to the
line-up at this years AirVenture
show in Oshkosh. The concept
was introduced in 2010 and
was an instant hit, it says.
IN BRIEF
S
lovenian airframer Pipistrel
rolled out the rst prototype
Panthera light general aviation
aircraft on 28 March at its factory
in Ajdovscina.
The company says its engineers
and technician started up the air-
crafts 210hp (157kW) Lycoming
engine and conducted ground
runs. Pipistrel will continue work
on functional ground tests in prep-
aration for rst ight, it says.
It is very exciting to witness the
tests and see the aeroplane come to
life for the very rst time, Ivo
Boscarol, Pipistrels chief executive
ofcer says. This is denitely a
very important milestone in the de-
velopment of Panthera. We look
forward to the continuation of tests
and the rst ight soon.
Pipistrel says the Panthera is a
four-seat aircraft capable of ying
1,000nm (1,852km), cruising at
200kt (370km/h), while burning
10gal (37.9l) per hour. It can be
equipped with a conventional,
hybrid, or an all-electric propul-
sion system, Pipistrel says.
Pipistrel announced the Pan-
thera last year. The aircraft is sched-
uled for certication in 2015.
I
talian light aircraft manufactur-
er Tecnam is marking its 65th
anniversary with the unveiling
later this month of the Astore
light sport aircraft. The latest of-
fering named after Tecnams
rst production aircraft will be
unwrapped on 24 April at the
Aero Friedrichshafen general
aviation show in Germany.
Tecnam already the largest
manufacturer of LSAs globally is
keeping a tight lid on the design
and performance specications of
the two-seat aircraft.
However, it has revealed that
the Astore will feature a low wing
and a new enhanced interior
with improved ergonomics and
better visibility.
Tecnams latest family member
will be offered with a choice of
three Rotax engines the 100hp
912ULS, fuel-injected 912iS or
115hp turbocharged 914. The As-
tore will also feature an Apple
iPad mini pre-installed with
weight and balance information,
checklists and a full pilots oper-
ating handbook, says Tecnam.
The 27-year-old Capua-head-
quartered company produces air-
craft models including the P92
LSA/ultralight family, the four-
seat P Twenty-Ten, the twin-
engined Multi Mission Aircraft
series and the in-development
P2012 Traveller.
Europe accounts for the largest
concentration of the 3,500-plus
Tecnam eet with France, Spain,
Germany and Italy home to the
largest installed base.
Read about Tecnams product
line and development strategy
at ightglobal.com/tecnam
C
zech general aviation aircraft
manufacturer Evektor ew its
SportStar EPOS (Electric Pow-
ered Small Aircraft) prototype for
the rst time on 28 March.
The two-seat aircraft took off at
08:25 local time from the airfram-
ers Kunovice base. The ight last-
ed around 10min and was followed
by a second, 20min sortie.
The ights were designed to test
the SportStar EPOSs 50kW Rotex
Electric RE X90-7 electric motor,
and its operational characteristics.
The SportStar EPOS is a deriva-
tive of the certicated SportStar
RTC piston single and has been de-
veloped in collaboration with the
Czech Light Aircraft Association.
The objective is to develop an
aircraft which can be used both
by private customers and aviation
schools as a suitable aircraft for
initial pilot training, says Evek-
tor, which will not certicate the
aircraft until it is feasible.
The SportStar EPOS will make
its debut at the Aero Friedrich-
shafen general aviation show in
Germany from 24 to 27 April.
DEVELOPMENT KATE SARSFIELD LONDON
Tecnam tags Aero
Friedrichshafen
for Astore reveal
Light sport aircraft takes name of frst production aircraft
as Italian company celebrates 65 years of manufacturing
TESTING
Evektor electric
SportStar EPOS
makes debut
MILESTONE DAVE MAJUMDAR WASHINGTON DC
Panthera comes to life as Pipistrel
rolls out frst prototype of four-seater
Certification of the aircraft is scheduled for 2015
P
ip
is
t
r
e
l
Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh spent much of their lives promoting an
essential balance between developing technologies and the preservation of the
natural environment. They would be pleased to know the Lindbergh Foundation
and its Aviation Green Alliance are working to promote technological advances
that ease aviations environmental footprint. Join our alliance, Aviation Green,
and connect with the growing number of leading individuals, companies and
organizations working together for the future of aviationand all of humanity.
Aviation Green applauds FedEx as an example of a company that strives to be
a good environmental steward. Whether your package is in the air, on a truck or
in transition, the companys efforts to reduce emissions and increase efciencies
work to reduce its carbon footprint. FedEx set a goal to cut global aircraft
emissions 20 percent by the year 2020. In less than ve years, it had nearly met
that goal. Now its aiming for 30 percent. One of the worlds largest airlines,
FedEx has been moving aggressively to replace older aircraft with new, more
efcient models. Through buildings, recycling, use of alternative fuels and electric
delivery vehicles to name just a few FedEx is committed to delivering
responsible stewardship on behalf of its worldwide customer base.
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9-15 April 2013
|
Flight International
|
31 fightglobal.com
Mil, Kamov look
to Africa
BUSINESS P32
SPACEFLIGHT
N
ASA has taken down the
NASA Technical Reports
Server (NTRS), a publicly availa-
ble resource for technical data
written by the space organisation,
following the FBIs arrest of a Chi-
nese national accused of lying to
investigators.
Representative Frank Wolf, the
chairman of the House of Repre-
sentatives subcommittee control-
ling both NASA and the FBIs
budget, requested that NASA re-
move technical information from
public view pending a review for
sensitive information.
In an 18 March press confer-
ence, Representative Frank Wolf
cited the 16 March arrest of Bo
Jiang, a Chinese research scientist
employed at NASAs Langley re-
search center, as reason enough
for a broad review of public data.
Bo was boarding a ight to China,
and was arrested for lying to fed-
eral agents about his possession
of a laptop, external hard drive
and memory stick.
Suspicion fell on Bo on 7
March, when Wolf announced
that concerned NASA employees
had informed him of lapses in se-
curity regarding Bo, a scientist
studying imagery enhancements
for contractor the National Insti-
tute of Aerospace.
At the press conference, Wolf
called on NASA to take down
technical information so it could
be reviewed for potential viola-
tions of export control laws, which
tightly regulate spacecraft and sat-
ellite components. Wolf also
called for an immediate review
of foreign nationals with NASA
credentials, and an audit of NASA
contractors that employ foreign
nationals on NASA property.
SENSITIVE ISSUES
The occurrences have stirred up a
hornets nest of sensitive issues
within the space community: ex-
port controls, intellectual proper-
ty and the role of China.
In the 1990s, two American-
built satellites ying atop Chinese
rockets were destroyed during
launch. During the subsequent
fault reviews it became evident
that the Chinese government was
using the investigation to gather
information on US satellite tech-
nology and manufacturing. Con-
cerns arose that China, already in-
famous for lax intellectual property
enforcement in other realms, could
seek to copy proprietary and even
secret US technologies.
The result was a modication
of the International Trafcking in
Arms Regulations (ITAR) law,
placing satellites, spacecraft and
related components solidly on the
United States Munitions List
(USML) and removing authority
to reclassify from the president.
Placement on the USML means
long and arduous reviews by the
government to even discuss rele-
vant plans with foreign nationals.
The change was a disaster for
the US space manufacturing in-
dustry. The space industry is both
highly competitive and highly in-
ternational, and the new demands
added costs and complications
that many foreign companies sim-
ply declined to bear. The US
share of satellite manufacturing
plunged from 100% of world-
wide market share in the 1970s to
around 16% today. Export con-
trols do not explain all of that de-
cline, but they have certainly
been a major factor. Foreign man-
ufacturers began to advertise sat-
ellites as ITAR-free that is,
free of US-built components.
US businessmen returned from
abroad with horror stories about
requiring armed guards for sim-
ple structural components and
restrictions on discussing certain
kinds of tape. To cite one of the
more outrageous examples: We
had what was called the Genesis
stand, and the purpose of this
hunk of metal was to keep Genesis
[a Bigelow spacecraft] from being
on the ground. It was round, it had
four legs, if you ipped it upside
down it was indistinguishable
from a coffee table, says Mike
Gold, a lawyer for Bigelow Aero-
space. As a legal requirement we
had two guards to watch the coffee
table at all times, and monitors to
watch the guards.
I can only imagine the conse-
quences if this technology were
to leak to the Chinese or Iranians.
They could gain technology to
serve coffee, he adds. Gold
eventually obtained a waiver for
that particular structure on his
second attempt.
Finally, language in the 2013
Department of Defense funding
reauthorisation gave authority to
remove satellites back to the pres-
ident, who has ordered a system-
atic review of export policies
with an eye to removing burden-
some restrictions. There is one
clearly-stated exception in the
language: China.
China maintains a very active
and ambitious spaceight pro-
gramme, and there is no doubt the
government would love to get its
hands on more advanced US tech-
nology. The nation is charged with
state-sponsored computer hacking
on a massive scale against targets
that include NASA facilities.
SpaceX, citing competition from
national governments, does not
le patents for its impressive col-
lection of intellectual property; al-
though the governments are un-
named, it seems clear from the
context that China leads the pack.
Regardless, the Chinese govern-
ment is surely able both to launch
rockets and to serve coffee.
OPEN QUESTIONS
Although Wolf and others are
surely right to fear Chinese intel-
lectual property theft, there are
open questions to be answered
regarding the level of information
disclosure that should be accept-
able. Vetting NTRS-accessible
documents carefully under the
still-in-place coffee table-restrict-
ing rules will undoubtedly nd
some export control violations
NASA is not known for its fanati-
cal secrecy but how useful the
information may be to China and
others in copying US designs re-
mains to be seen.
Raising the issue of Chinas
growing power causes some dis-
comfort in Washington, and while
some may condemn it, few deny
the need to co-operate and co-or-
dinate in some respects. If the
USA and China cannot sit down
for coffee together, space policies
of the two nations will increasing-
ly diverge, potentially leading to
larger problems down the road.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ZACH ROSENBERG WASHINGTON DC
NASA tightens security after lapses
Arrest of Chinese research scientist prompts agency to reconsider its policies on sharing of technical information
Any foreign objects in there?
Cut through the orbital debris
with Flightglobals space team:
ightglobal.com/hyperbola
R
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BUSINESS
fightglobal.com 32
|
Flight International
|
9-15 April 2013
Good week
Bad week
Aircraft fnance is among the sectors covered
by our premium news and data service
Flightglobal Pro: ightglobal.com/pro
Good week
Bad week
LABOUR RELATIONS
The rather spiky relation-
ship between Boeing
and the Society of
Professional Engineering
Employees in Aerospace
(SPEEA) union took a
turn for the worse when
the US National Labor
Relations Board decided
the airframer has to an-
swer SPEEA complaints
of threats to members
and of withholding of
information relevant to
contract negotiations.
Boeing has until 12 April
to respond, and a hear-
ing has been scheduled
for 6 August.
PILATUS After a record
2011, the Swiss turbo-
prop maker was not sur-
prised to see sales dip
by a quarter to Swfr 593
million ($626 million)
and EBIT lose nearly two-
thirds to total Swfr 38
million, but order intake
soared as Saudi and
Omani trainer demand
helped add almost Swfr
2.7 billion more than
the total of the previous
four years. Chairman
Oscar Schwenk said con-
tracts won last year will
see Pilatus and its Swiss
jobs through the next
few years.
ROTORCRAFT DAN THISDELL LONDON
Mil, Kamov look to Africa
Russian Helicopters is seeking to leverage its traditional sub-Saharan strength
F
or Russian Helicopters, the
Moscow-headquartered hold-
ing company behind the Mil and
Kamov brands, 2012 was a year
of steady progress, both nancial-
ly and in its ongoing drive to
transform its part of a Russian
aerospace industry that suffered
greatly in the chaotic years fol-
lowing the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991.
The raw numbers tell much of
the story. Revenue rose by 21% to
Rb125.7 billion ($4.04 billion),
EBITDA was up 16% at Rb20.8
billion and net prot jumped
more than 35%, to Rb9.44 billion.
Deliveries were up by nearly
11%, to 290 helicopters of nine
types, to clients in 19 countries,
and second only to Eurocopter.
The backlog, although down 5%
by volume at 817 aircraft, stood at
Rb350 billion, up from Rb330 bil-
lion at the end of 2011.
Orders in 2011 included more
than 600 helicopters for delivery
to the Russian defence ministry
by 2020, a deal that arguably put
rm ground under the company
created to consolidate the nations
rotorcraft industry between 2007
and 2010. But further substantial
growth last year suggests that
Russian Helicopters is on track to
show steady progress.
As chief executive Dmitry
Petrov puts it: We continued to
increase deliveries to our custom-
ers, which demonstrates the
growing global demand for our
helicopters.
Indeed, in 2012, some 78% of
revenue came from helicopter
sales, and sales accounted for
74% of EBITDA. Services and
support accounted for less than
15% of revenue and less than 5%
of EBITDA, suggesting a great
deal of headroom for growth. The
company has readily admitted
that its service offering has been
weak a legacy of both Soviet
practice and the chaotic 1990s.
The Soviet practice of separat-
ing design bureaux Mil and
Kamov in the case of helicopters
from manufacturing plants may
Plenty more where that came from
R
u
s
s
ia
n

H
e
lic
o
p
t
e
r
s
P
ila
t
u
s

A
ir
c
r
a
f
t
B
o
e
in
g
have been satisfactory when cen-
tral control of the economy held,
but following the USSRs demise
left the rotorcraft industry in dis-
array; for example, the design bu-
reaux were not responsible for
warranties, and the popular
Mi-8/17 range continued in man-
ufacture by two plants operating
as, effectively, rival businesses.
In addition, the Soviet belief in
producing and distributing vast
quantities of spare parts left an
atomised scatter of workshops
trading in unveriable spares,
particularly in what became the
Confederation of Independent
States and in Africa.
To Russian Helicopters it is
clear that it is almost unique
among ex-Soviet companies in
having to offer global service.
Thus a great deal of its attention
has gone to creating an ofcial,
veried maintenance and repair
network offering a proper war-
ranty, and independent shops
have been encouraged to join.
AFRICA CALLS
Emphasising that point, Petrov
says: During 2013 we will con-
tinue to focus on key strategic
areas: we will continue to mod-
ernise and diversify our model
range, to develop our aftermarket
service network and to increase
operational efciency.
In sub-Saharan Africa, this af-
termarket effort is becoming high-
ly visible. At a March BRICS
countries summit in Johannes-
burg, Russian Helicopters and
South Africas Denel Aviation for-
mally opened a maintenance,
repair and overhaul centre for
Russian-built machines. Noting
that there are some 600 such
helicopters in Africa, mainly
from the Mi-8/17 series and
Kamov Ka-32s, Petrov stressed
the need for advanced support
to maintain such a eet, and de-
scribed the advent of the Denel
operation as a serious step in
this process.
The timing may be ideal. Econ-
omists are widely forecasting a
period of dramatic African eco-
nomic growth, but, as our table
(left) suggests, the civil rotorcraft
market is an almost blank order-
book waiting to be lled.
SUB-SAHARAN CIVIL FLEET
*
Manufacturer In service (on order)
Eurocopter 405 (6)
Robinson 346 (2)
Bell 301 (7)
AgustaWestland 67 (15)
Mil 59
Schweizer 52
Sikorsky 43
MD Helicopters 33
Enstrom 32
Agusta-Bell 15
Hindustan Aeronautics 5
Kamov 3
Others 8
Total 1,399
NOTE:
*
Africa excluding Algeria, Egypt, Libya,
Morocco, Tunisia. SOURCE: Flightglobals
Ascend Online Fleets
BUSINESS
9-15 April 2013
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33 fightglobal.com
Fuel change
FEATURE P34
HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS POSTS RECORD YEAR
MANUFACTURING Indias state-owned prime contractor Hindustan
Aeronautics posted a record turnover of Indian Rupee (Rs) 143.2
billion ($2.63 billion) in its fnancial year to end-March, up by 1% on
2011-2012. Pre-tax proft was up by 4% at Rs34.7 billion. The com-
pany has a focus on military aviation, but plans to fnd foreign and
domestic partners for a foray into [the] civil segment, which is fore-
cast to have promising growth.
RIVALS PURSUE JET ENGINE PARTS PRODUCER
TAKEOVER Jet engine components maker EDAC Technologies is
considering a pair of takeover proposals valuing the Connecticut-
headquartered company at up to $97 million. The EDAC board had
recommended a $17.75 per share ($94 million) offer from transpor-
tation industry-focused private equity investor Greenbriar, only to re-
ceive what it deemed a potentially superior $18.25 per share offer
from MidOcean Associates and a large North American pensions
investment manager. Greenbriars offer expires on 23 April.
EADS FREEDOM BOOSTS DAIMLER BOTTOM LINE
FINANCE Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and longtime
proxy holder of the German governments stake in EADS, will see a
second quarter earnings before interest and taxes boost of some
2.7 billion ($3.5 billion) from the revaluation to current market val-
ue of 38 per share of its remaining stake in the Airbus parent,
which it intends to sell. The formal adoption of a new governance
pact for EADS which reduces the combined French, German and
Spanish government stakes to below 30%, and removes their veto
power over management has freed Daimler and its French counter-
part Lagardere to sell out and focus on their core businesses.
WORLD SPACE ECONOMY GREW LAST YEAR
SPACEFLIGHT The worldwide space economy grew by 6.7% in 2012
to $304 billion, according to industry consultancy The Space
Foundation. The the largest percentage increase 11% came in
commercial space infrastructure and support. Government funding
increased only 1.3%. Worldwide launch attempts fell to 78 in 2012
from 84 the year before, led by Russia with 24. Personnel numbers
at NASA and in the US space industry as a whole declined slightly,
although headcounts increased in Japan and Europe.
ELBIT SYSTEMS JOINS GOOD CONDUCT CLUB
ETHICS Israeli defence electronics maker Elbit Systems has been
selected as the 24th member of the International Forum on
Business Ethical Conduct. The Forums principles have been en-
dorsed by the main US and European aerospace industry bodies.
AMERICAN CHAPTER 11 EXIT PLAN DUE THIS MONTH
BANKRUPTCY American Airlines will fle its reorganisation plan for
emerging from bankruptcy protection in April, says chief executive
Tom Horton. Under US law, parent AMR should have issued a plan
within 120 days of its November 2011 Chapter 11 fling but has
been granted several extensions. Horton added that AAs proposed
merger with US Airways should close at the end of the third quarter.
ARMENIAN FLAG CARRIER SLIPS TO HALF MAST
AIRLINES Debt repayment trouble has forced Armenian fag carrier
Armavia to declare bankruptcy. The privately owned carrier based in
Yerevan, the countrys capital, was reportedly unable to pay debt it
owed to Yerevan International airport.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
PEOPLE MOVES
A4A, Grob Aircraft, NATS, Safran, StandardAero, QuEST
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
We need more
engineers,
not more
lawyers
Hiebeler: Grob chief executive
Williams: A4A local
commander, will succeed him.
The two other deputy chiefs,
Ross McInnes in charge of
Finance and Marc Ventre, in
charge of Operations, remain in
place. Ian Stone is now head of
QuEST Global Engineerings UK
operations; he has led the build-
up of the companys support
relationship with Rolls-Royce.
StandardAero has appointed
director Firoz Tarapore as
interim chief executive to replace
Rob Mionis, who left to pursue
other opportunities. Connecticut
state representative Sean
Williams has joined Airlines for
America (A4A) as VP, state and
local government affairs.
Andre Hiebeler is now chief
executive of Grob Aircraft; as
chief sales ofcer, he had shared
the top job with Johann
Heitzmann, who has left the
company. Simon Daykin will
join NATS at the end of April as
chief architect; he is currently
chief technology ofcer for IT
company Logicalis. Deputy chief
executive Dominique-Jean
Chertier will leave Safran on 30
June to start his own consulting
company. Former French air
force chief of staff Gen (retd)
Stphane Abrial, who joined
Safran in January following a
military career that saw him
serve as a NATO strategic
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Honeywell chief DAVE COTE told the
Executives Club of Chicago that better
maths and science education must
feature as prominently as debt
reduction and tax reform
in any new American
competitiveness agenda
fightglobal.com
COVER STORY
34
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Flight International
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9-15 April 2013
CRAIG HOYLE RAF BRIZE NORTON
T
he UK Royal Air Forces ability to de-
liver air transport and in-ight refuel-
ling services ventured into a new era
on 10 April 2012, when a military-
adapted version of the Airbus A330 took off
from Brize Norton air base in Oxfordshire to
perform its rst operational ight.
Twelve months on, and a three-strong eet
of renamed Voyagers have transported more
than 30,000 passengers and around 2,300t of
freight, as the RAFs 10 Sqn and the AirTanker
Services company responsible for introducing
an eventual 14 of the type continue to expand
their capabilities.
Comprising two aircraft placed on the UK
military register as ZZ330 and ZZ331, and
commercially registered G-VYGG, the trio had
own almost a combined 1,900h and 543 sec-
tors by late March, AirTanker says. Typical
duties have included ying military person-
nel to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and Al Minhad
air base in the United Arab Emirates in sup-
port of the UKs involvement in Afghanistan,
as well as deployments linked to British exer-
cises conducted in Canada and Kenya.
Now the aircraft are here we are into the
usual drumbeat of tasking, and the level of
tasking is increasing all the time, says James
Scott, AirTankers director of ight operations.
With the Voyagers expected to log around 520
ight hours during April, he adds: We are
starting to take our rightful place in the deliv-
ery of air transport capability for the air force.
NEW ROLE
The active eet is due to double in size soon,
with three more aircraft scheduled to arrive at
Brize Norton by the middle of 2013. This
number will increase to total seven or eight by
the end of the year, while the programmes
ninth A330 is already on Airbuss nal assem-
bly line in Toulouse, France.
All ights to date have been made in the pas-
senger transport role, either under AirTankers
air operating certicate with civilian pilots, or
own by the air forces 10 Sqn under military
regulations. But in what will be a major mile-
stone, the Ministry of Defence is expected soon
to also give release to service approval for the
type to begin supporting air-to-air refuelling
(AAR) training tasks, leading to its delivery of a
critical operational service.
Being introduced via the UKs Future Stra-
tegic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) programme using
a private nance initiative funding model, the
Voyagers are to replace the Vickers VC10 and
Lockheed TriStar in RAF service.
Now used in a tanker-only role by 101 Sqn,
the UKs VC10 force is less than ve months
away from its nal retirement in late September.
The 1960s-era eet was in mid-March reduced
to four aircraft, with the withdrawal of two air-
FUEL
CHANGE
With the RAFs aged eets of VC10
and TriStar tanker/transports to be
retired within months, 2013 marks
a crucial period for the AirTanker-
delivered Voyagers which are
assuming their duties
frames. A mixed eet of TriStar transports and
tankers own by 216 Sqn are due to follow the
VC10s into retirement by March 2014.
At full strength, the Voyager eet will in-
clude a core inventory of nine tanker/trans-
ports, with these to be declared fully in-serv-
ice with the operational provision of air-to-air
refuelling services by May 2014. A second op-
erational unit will follow 10 Sqn in ying the
type, with a decision yet to be announced on
whether it will take its number from either the
current VC10 or TriStar-equipped squadrons.
Also to be supplied by AirTanker is a so-
called surge eet to comprise ve addi-
9-15 April 2013
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35 fightglobal.com
The modied A330s will represent the
RAFs only tanker capability from early next
year, after a recent MoD study concluded that
Voyager will meet all requirements. This re-
moved any consideration of a secondary role
for the services 22 Airbus Military A400M tac-
tical transports, the rst of which will be deliv-
ered in September 2014.
Three RAF crews have already passed
through instruction in tanker operations for
the Voyager at a dedicated training school at
Brize Norton, with their ground-based train-
ing having culminated with the use of a
Thales RealitySeven full-ight simulator.
These rst crews will begin supporting RAF
fast jets initially Panavia Tornado GR4s, but
later Euroghter Typhoons and also from late
this decade Lockheed Martin F-35B Joint
Strike Fighters soon after the expected re-
ceipt of a remaining clearance for the Voyager
to transfer fuel in ight. We are hungry to get
on with delivering AAR, Scott says.
As air-to-air training tasks commence, a
modication programme will also be launched
during May to enable Voyagers to play an im-
portant part in assisting with the UKs troop
drawdown process in Afghanistan ahead of it
ending its combat involvement by late 2014.
AirTankers engineering team at Brize Norton
will make the required defensive aid system
enhancements to enable the transport to be
own into the country, with the MoDs theatre
entry standard having grown beyond the
equipment t included in the FSTA contract.
Who else gets to start an airline thats prop-
erly funded, and with widebody aircraft? Scott
asks. But the other piece is our ability to facili-
tate the RAFs delivery of military effect.
We are starting to take our
rightful place in the delivery
of air transport capability for
the Royal Air Force
JAMES SCOTT
Director of ight operations, AirTanker
Keep up to speed on the Voyagers service
introduction by visiting our dedicated defence
news channel at ightglobal.com/defence
several business scenarios on how we can use
that capability.
The tanker/transports will be operated by
30 RAF and seven sponsored reservist crews
of two pilots each, plus 37 mission system op-
erators, who will specialise in tasks including
air-to-air refuelling provision.
Scott says AirTanker has been hugely im-
pressed by the standard of the candidates who
have applied to become sponsored reservist pi-
lots. Around 10 have been recruited so far, in-
cluding ve as instructors, and the rst two
graduated from ofcer training at RAF Cranwell
in December 2012 as Flight Lieutenants.
We have been able to pick people who t in
with our values, and with those of the RAF, he
says. If Im going to move crews between op-
erations then its imperative they are as close
together as possible. Ive not seen any challeng-
es with the people Ive got with moving into
each environment, he adds, referring to a
structure where AirTanker pilots could y a
commercial Voyager one week, and then report
in RAF uniform as sponsored reservists for an-
other task.
POSITIONS SOUGHT
Another successful aspect of AirTankers air-
line operation, meanwhile, has been the level
of interest received to work as cabin crew.
Some 800 applications were received for the
rst 30 available positions, which increased
to 1,400 for the total 48 jobs available.
We are getting great feedback from pas-
sengers on the quality of our service. Part of
our strategy is to make ourselves so attractive
that the customer wants to y the aircraft.
While noting that a joint military and civil-
ian operations team is demonstrating a slick
dispatch service, Scott says AirTanker is using
all the information at its disposal to analyse the
cause of any delays during its operations. If an
aircraft is 1min late I want to know why, he
says. Similar attention is being paid to the Voy-
agers fuel consumption statistics in the air
transport role, in which its under-wing hose-
and-drogue refuelling pods are removed, to re-
duce drag. We are learning to y as efciently
as possible. As a tanker, all the fuel we save can
be given to receiver aircraft, he notes.
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tional aircraft, including the current
G-VYGG. These will be kept at short-notice
readiness to support UK military operations
if required, but ordinarily made available for
third-party use.
Those aircraft are going to be there for us
to use, says Scott. We are exploring actively
Tanker training with the Tornado GR4 will build on the Voyagers airline-style operations
fightglobal.com
BUSINESS AVIATION
36
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Flight International
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9-15 April 2013
SIVA GOVINDASAMY SINGAPORE
The popularity of the Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition highlights a
sharpening appetite for business jets among the nations rising high-net-worth individuals
B
uoyant demand for business jets,
coupled with growth potential in the
lucrative large-cabin, long-range
market, ensures China remains one
of the most important markets in the world.
This is reected in the growing popularity
of the Asian Business Aviation Conference
and Exhibition (ABACE), which takes place
this year from 16-18 April at the Shanghai
Hawker Pacic Business Aviation Service
Centre. About 150 exhibitors, including the
major western manufacturers and a growing
number of Asian suppliers, will be present.
Honeywell says about 34% of the Asian air-
craft operators are interested in new purchases.
Fleets have been growing at double-digit rates
throughout the past ve years, adds the com-
pany in its latest annual report and forecast.
Southeast Asia, Australia and Hong Kong
are traditionally strong business aviation mar-
kets in the region, and while India continues
to lag behind because of regulatory restric-
tions and ongoing infrastructure woes, corpo-
rate aircraft have caught on far more quickly
in China.
This is driven by corporations and the fast-
growing number of high-net-worth individu-
als, with both groups wanting the conven-
ience provided by business jets. Tracking the
number of aircraft in China has not been easy
but Asian Sky Group, a Hong Kong-based con-
sultancy which provides a range of business
aviation services to clients in Asia, has pro-
duced a survey it will publish at ABACE.
It estimates 336 business jets were based in
Greater China at the end of 2012, with 57% in
China and 33% in Hong Kong. This was an in-
crease of 40%, or 96 aircraft, from 2011, with
91% of that in the large, super-large, ultra-long-
range and corporate airliner categories.
Mainland China itself added 60 aircraft in
2012, up 40%, although the growth rate is
lower than the 45% in 2011. While growth
rate has been slowly declining, this is only be-
cause the market is maturing.
There is still great potential in China ab-
solutely and the growth rate is the highest
for Asia, says Jeff Lowe, general manager of
Asian Sky Group.
China is a large-cabin-and-up market,
where Gulfstream and Bombardier are the
dominant players. Falcon and Embraers mar-
WEALTH OF
OPPORTUNITIES
ket share is growing faster at the expense of
Cessna and Hawker Beechcraft.
Chris Buchholz, chief executive of Hong-
kong Jet, points out the impressive growth
comes from a low base. And while several
hundred more aircraft will be added to the
region by the end of the decade, the size of the
market will still be signicantly smaller
than that in the USA.
Buchholz, whose company provides air-
craft management, maintenance and charter
services, says there are several reasons be-
hind the demand for larger aircraft: Firstly,
the handling costs are high compared with
other parts of the world. Therefore, using a
small jet will not give the customers the full
benet of lower cost since landing fees, han-
dling fees and other user fees are very high in
the region.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Secondly, the expectation of cabin comfort is
very different in China. The new customers
expect a stand-up cabin with ve-star service
as they are new to business aviation. A full
white-linen, silverware, three-course dining
experience is expected. To accommodate the
FIN_090413_036-038 36 5/4/13 10:56:20
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37 fightglobal.com
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catering choices, it can only be done with a
sufciently large galley, which is in a super-
midsize or ultra-long-haul aircraft.
Aircraft sales, while buoyant, could be hit
by the Chinese political leaderships attempt
to introduce a measure of austerity among
high-prole individuals amid a growing in-
come gap in the country. There is also uncer-
tainty about import taxes and value added
taxes on business jets, with some speculating
they could be doubled. Restrictions on Chi-
nas airspace leads to delays at all airports and
more secondary airports capable of handling
business jets are needed.
A relaxation of access to low-altitude air-
space would also enable ight schools to ad-
dress a pilot shortage. Various regulatory is-
sues also hinder operations. If China were to
reduce time for permit applications and re-
duce some of the handling costs, such as gov-
ernment fees, it would result in a lot more ac-
tivity in China, says Buchholz.
If a level playing eld can be applied to
foreign-registered aircraft in terms of lower
handling cost and better access to remote air-
ports, more investment and trade will be
seen, since business-jet users exert very sig-
nicant investment and trade inuence, he
adds. Regarding mainland-registered air-
craft, speeding up the time taken for main-
land registration will greatly help address the
ongoing growth.
Some airframers are setting up assembly
plants in China to overcome high import
costs. Embraer is converting its ERJ-145 man-
ufacturing facility at Harbin in the northeast-
ern Heilongjiang province into a Legacy 650
plant that will initially produce six aircraft
eventually 20 per year.
Just before ABACE 2012, Cessna signed a
joint-venture agreement with Chinas state-
owned airframer AVIC to manufacture and
certicate a range of business jets, utility sin-
gle-engined turboprops and single-engined
piston aircraft in the country. They will also
jointly develop new models for the market.
Other companies, however, do not believe it
is necessary to go down that road.
Market leader Gulfstream, which says its
customers operate 106 aircraft in China and
Hong Kong, believes in its focus on having
the right people, parts and service facilities
in place.
OPERATOR SUPPORT
Where the aircraft is manufactured isnt near-
ly as important as where the aircraft goes after
its manufactured. Our primary focus contin-
ues to be ensuring we have the best support
available to our operators, says the company.
Bombardier, which has more than 92 aircraft
registered in Greater China, says its alliances
on the commercial aircraft side of the business
help. Traditionally weve been selling larger
aircraft in China, such as our Global aircraft.
However, in the past few years there has been
increasing demand for small and medium jets
as well, such as our Challenger and Learjet air-
craft, says the company. Our edge in China
stems from our strong sales team and our large
product portfolio of aircraft.
The new customers expect
a stand-up cabin with ve-star
service as they are new to
business aviation
CHRIS BUCHHOLZ
Chief executive, Hongkong Jet
About 150
exhibitors will
be at ABACE
this year
ABACE PREVIEW
fightglobal.com
BUSINESS AVIATION
38
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Flight International
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9-15 April 2013
For more analysis of Chinas burgeoning
business aviation market, go to
ightglobal.com/bizavchina
China wants to get in on the act itself.
AVIC wants to produce a range of aircraft, ini-
tially in partnership with the likes of Cessna
and Embraer and eventually on its own. This
will initially go to domestic demand and,
gradually, international markets just like its
military and commercial aircraft.
We cant only allow Western companies to
sell aircraft in China. We want this business
too, Wang Yawei, president of AVICs busi-
ness aviation division, AVIC Aviation Tech-
niques, told Flight International in November
2012. He added that AVIC has the mandate
to manufacture several types of business jets
and establish its presence as China has in
the automobile business. The rapid develop-
ment of Chinas economy has resulted in a
boom in business aviation here, and we want
to be competitive in the global market too.
The greater availability of business aircraft
maintenance and repair shops has boosted
this demand, with more facilities opening in
bigger cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and
Hong Kong. More spare parts are being placed
in Asia, with Gulfstream saying it has parts
worth more than $56 million in distribution
hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore.
With more eld service representatives in the
region, operators get help much faster. Costs,
however, remain an issue.
Considering a heavy check can take sever-
al weeks, the client may not be able to get a
spot that long because of the limited space in
Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Even if
space is available, the daily rate will be very
high, so the maintenance costs for a heavy
check will be prohibitive. Therefore, the mar-
ket needs more maintenance MROs at low-
cost airports with maintenance-dedicated
hangars, says Buchholz.
Operating fees remain high and approval
processes still take a long time, which is un-
likely to change in the near term, says Lowe:
For China, the compensation fees for foreign
operators and the ight permit application
Dassault and Embraer are eating into the market share of Cessna and its Citation series
process is certainly curtailing business. Like-
wise, the importation and AOC approval
processes are curtailing business.
GROWTH LEVERS
He adds that none of this will change in the
immediate future as these items remain le-
vers with which the Civil Aviation Adminis-
tration of China can control the growth of
business aviation in the country.
Despite the challenges and restrictions, the
growing demand for aircraft means there is
greater demand for better management and
charter services.
One interesting trend in China is that
high-net-worth individuals are rapidly be-
coming more sophisticated. It is very impor-
tant for aircraft operators in China to be
aware of this and make sure their operational
excellence and service excellence can keep
up with the VIP clienteles discerning
needs, says Buchholz.
Lowe believes the market is opening up to
established western rms such as VistaJet in
the charter segment and Comlux for manage-
ment. More will come, given the buoyant de-
mand. There is such a rich vein of emerging
wealth in China that if one buyer pauses, a
new one pops up someplace else, he says.
We cant only allow Western
companies to sell aircraft in
China. We want this business
too
WANG YAWEI
President, AVIC Aviation Techniques
Gulfstream is targeting spare parts shops in Asian cities for aircraft such as the G650
(top); Embraer is converting its ERJ145 facility at Harbin, China into a Legacy 650 plant

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KRISTIN MAJCHER WASHINGTON DC
Having embarked on a merger due to complete in the third
quarter, American Airlines and US Airways must tackle
the thorny issue of how to join up maintenance operations
SEEKING
SYNERGIES
W
ith approval from a bankruptcy
court to proceed with a merger,
American Airlines and US Air-
ways have taken the rst steps
towards becoming the worlds largest airline.
The carriers received the go-ahead on 27
March, allowing American to incorporate the
transaction into its reorganisation plan. The
deal still awaits regulatory approval, but with
court approval in place, the carriers will work
towards eventually receiving a single operat-
ing certicate for a combined eet of more
than 900 aircraft. Many details of how mainte-
nance operations will be brought together are
still to be conrmed, but the complementary
capabilities of the carriers maintenance shops
suggest that the merged carrier will have a
comprehensive MRO offering.
The two carriers intend to seek a single oper-
ating certicate from the US Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA). This could take up to
two years to implement after the transaction is
completed. During that process, the carriers un-
ions will work out which group will represent
the new carrier, and the airline will eventually
adopt a single maintenance programme. The
merger is expected to complete in the third quar-
ter this year, two years after AMR led for bank-
ruptcy in November 2011. The carrier has until
29 May to submit its reorganisation plan.
American has traditionally been more of a
heavy maintenance shop, but last year negoti-
ated a contract with its Transport Workers
Union (TWU)-represented mechanics that al-
lowed it to outsource some maintenance of its
own eet, on specic aircraft types. US Air-
ways, on the other hand, keeps two primarily
heavy-maintenance facilities full and then
outsources maintenance to cover its peaks.
COMPLEMENTARY CHOICES
American Airlines has generally chosen Boe-
ing models in the past, while US Airways has
opted for Airbus models. American ies 608
aircraft, while US Airways has about 346.
Data from Flightglobals ACAS database
shows that Americans checks usually stay
close to 500 per year, while US Airways
C-checks are expected to peak at 263 in 2018
after a low point just shy of 200 in 2013.
As for the heaviest checks, data shows that
American should expect a 2014 peak that will
taper off by 2017. US Airways heavy checks
will start diminishing in 2015 and 2016.
The ACAS data is compiled from eet
growth, orders and retirements, accounting
for the maintenance intervals of each aircraft.
The carriers operate vastly different eets,
with several engine types. Its going to be a
long, huge difcult job to put these eets and
maintenance programmes together, acknowl-
edges Subodh Karnik, vice-president at consul-
tancy ICF SH&E and former chief executive of
Global Aero Logistics, parent of World Air-
ways, North American Airlines and ATA.
However, he says that as most of the eets
within the merged carrier will be isolated with-
in either American or US Airways and all of
the subtypes are relatively large, the transition
overall will be absolutely manageable.
There will be costs associated with convert-
ing the eets to a common interior scheme, re-
ceiving a single certicate and merging the
maintenance planning and operations, notes
Karnik. Those can be offset by pooling invento-
ry, managing irregular operations, optimising
the supply chain and availing of spare capacity
at Americans maintenance facility at Tulsa.
As long as they dont take unnecessary eco-
nomic risks, chase the revenue-generating pri-
orities quickly such as conguration commo-
nality and keep a look out for low-hanging
fruit opportunities, such as maximising utilisa-
tion and Tulsa and the rest of their facilities...
they will be in good shape, says Karnik.
AA & US AIRWAYS C-CHECK
FORECAST 2013-2018
C-check forecast
SOURCE: Flightglobal's ACAS database
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
American Airlines US Airways
AA & US AIRWAYS HEAVY-CHECK
FORECAST 2013-2018
Heavy-check forecast
SOURCE: Flightglobal's ACAS database
0
30
60
90
120
150
2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
American Airlines
US Airways
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41 fightglobal.com
At least 500 employees represented by the
TWU still work at Texas Aero Engine Services
(TAESL), a joint venture with Rolls-Royce.
There, work is performed on the Rolls-Royce
RB211s, which power the Boeing 757 eet,
and Trent 800s powering Americans Boeing
777s. That facility will continue to operate de-
spite the shutdown of the heavy-maintenance
facility at Alliance. American also has 77 line
maintenance stations throughout the world.
The carrier has said its decision to pursue
contract maintenance agreements for its 757,
777, and 767 eets allows it to be competitive
in the future. A majority of its contract main-
tenance work is performed within the USA.
US Airways, on the other hand, has two
heavy-maintenance facilities in Pittsburgh
and Charlotte that can provide six to eight
heavy maintenance lines, depending on
needs. It lls those facilities with work for its
own aircraft, and outsources to ll peaks in
heavy maintenance. The carrier performs all
of its scheduled line maintenance in house.
Under agreements ratied with its TWU-
represented mechanics and related employees
that came into effect in September 2012,
American must perform at least 65% of its
own maintenance work in-house.
Therefore, a majority of maintenance work
on the Fort Worth-based carriers eet will
continue to be performed at its 3.3 million ft
2

(310,000m
2
) agship maintenance base at
Tulsa International. The facility specialises in
heavy maintenance for Americans Boeing
MD-80, 757, 777 and 737 aircraft, as well as
the Pratt & Whitney JT8 and General Electric
CF6-80 and CFMI CFM56 engines. It also has
several specialised capabilities, such as interi-
or modications, composites and engineering.
American has also performed heavy mainte-
nance work for third parties at the facility.
AMERICAN OUTSOURCING
As part of its business plan to emerge from bank-
ruptcy, American chose to outsource some of its
heavy maintenance work and close its mainte-
nance base at Fort Worth Alliance airport. That
facility specialised in Boeing 737 maintenance
and had room for six widebody aircraft. In De-
cember, the last aircraft left the 781,000ft
2
facility
after a maintenance check. Maintenance crews
are still performing minimal work at the facility,
but that work is on track to be moved complete-
ly within the next few months.

As long as they dont take
unnecessary economic risks
they will be in good shape
SUBODH KARNIK
Vice-president, ICF SH&E consultancy
US Airways performs most of its engine
maintenance under contracts with OEM part-
ners, including General Electric, Rolls-Royce,
International Aero Engines and Pratt & Whit-
ney, vice-president David Seymour told
Flightglobal in September 2012. These con-
tracts include classic power-by-the-hour
(PBH) contracts and hybrid PBH contracts,
which involves paying the engine overhauler
on an accumulated hours basis.
Seymour said last year that US Airways
Airbus A330-300 eet of nine aircraft had just
nished a major maintenance cycle, and that
its older Boeing 737s will be phased out of the
eet by 2014, reducing the need for contract
maintenance in the coming months and years.
The carrier was at a peak in its maintenance
cycle during the third quarter of last year, but
Seymour expects that towards the end of 2013
requirements will die down and that there
will be signicantly less outsourcing needed
for the US Airways eet.
US Airways has been focused on improving
its efciency. In the past four years, the carrier
has reduced its maintenance cancellations by
half, and deferred maintenance items are down
by more than 50% on average, says Seymour.
Illinois-based MRO AAR says it expects the
merger to create some opportunities for the
North American MRO market, especially in
the area of cabin reconguration work.
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American Airlines has generally chosen Boeing models in the past, while US Airways has opted for Airbus models
fightglobal.com
US-AMERICAN MERGER
42
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9-15 April 2013

For commentary on breaking news from the
airline sector, visit our sister magazines blog at
ightglobal.com/abblog
Theres going to be more work on the
supply side of the industry post American
merger and integration than there is right
now, says Jack Arehart, co-chief commercial
ofcer at AAR. US Airways is one of the
MROs existing maintenance customers.
Labour issues must also be addressed, in
the wake of the court approval.
In February, Pennsylvania senator Bob
Casey sent a letter to US Airways and Ameri-
can requesting that the airlines maintain 1,900
jobs in Pennsylvania, many of them at US Air-
ways aircraft maintenance facility in Pitts-
burgh. The senator requested that the two car-
riers extend the current lease on the building
beyond its current term, which ends in 2015.
CUTTING REDUNDANCIES
When American rst announced its bankrupt-
cy reorganisation plan in February 2012, the
outlook was not bright for maintenance person-
nel. At the time, the carrier was projecting ini-
tial cuts of around 8,800 TWU positions. About
4,850 were in the mechanics (and related) and
material logistics specialist groups.
However, negotiations with the TWU re-
duced that number by nearly 90%, cutting
forced redundancies to just 300 mechanics.
More than 1,600 mechanics and related work-
ers took an early-retirement option, and more
than 1,000 remained in other positions.
The TWU represents about 11,000 mechan-
ics and related workers at American, includ-
ing 1,700 workers at the soon-to-be-closed Al-
liance overhaul shop, some 5,400 in Tulsa and
another 4,600 stationed at other facilities.
In January, the union said it had worked
out a memorandum of understanding to pro-
vide a wage increase of 4.3% above TWUs
previous contract for its members, which
would come into effect when American nal-
ises its reorganisation plan. This has already
been approved by the bankruptcy court.
US Airways maintenance employees are
represented by the International Association
of Machinists (IAM), which says it is focusing
on completing current labour negotiations be-
fore supporting the merger of the two main-
line carriers.
On 20 March, the carriers mechanic-and-re-
lated group requested that the National Media-
tion Board release the carrier from arbitration.
IAMs mechanic-and-related members have
been in contract negotiations with US Airways
for more than two years, and began mediation in
July 2011. US Airways employed 3,200 me-
chanics, stock clerks and related employees at
the end of 2012, based on regulatory lings.
Until Americans reorganisation plan is ap-
proved in court, labour unions will remain
separated, just as the two carriers will remain
competitive entities. After that happens, the
two groups may start to work towards a joint
collective bargaining agreement by submitting
a single carrier application for their work
groups to the National Mediation Board, even-
tually permitting the unions to work out a sin-
gle agreement and integrate their respective
seniority lists.
It is unclear which union will represent
maintenance workers at the merged carrier,
especially since two other unions are now
vying to represent the workers. The Interna-
tional Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Air-
craft Mechanics Fraternal Organization
(AMFA) have each started a campaign to gar-
ner interest among Americans mechanics.
The two carriers have said that the merger
will lead to 6,700 daily ights, only overlap-
ping on 12 of 900 nonstop routes. There is
also little overlap between the eets of Ameri-
can and US Airways, meaning maintenance
facilities have complementary maintenance
capabilities. However, as the carriers receive
new deliveries, the eets will look very differ-
ent in the next ve years.
American and US Airways will operate a
combined eet of 944 aircraft upon the com-
pletion of the merger, which only overlaps on
Boeing 767-200ERs and 757-200s. US Air-
ways operates 10 767-200s and American op-
erates 12 of the type. American operates 103
757-200s and US Airways operates 24.
Over the next four years, more types will be
shared across the two operators as American
receives more Airbus aircraft. The two carriers
are scheduled to take delivery of 607 new
aircraft in that period, comprising 517
narrowbodies and 90 widebodies. Those in-
clude 130 current-generation Airbus A320
family aircraft and 130 A320neo aircraft
at American.
American says that it plans to receive 130
A319s and A321s between 2013 and 2022,
with CFM International CFM56-5B engines
on the A319s and International Aero Engines
V2500-A5 engines on the A321 aircraft. It also
has 42 orders for the Boeing 787-9, 100 orders
for the Boeing 737 Max 8 and 107 orders for
the Boeing 737-800 with CFM engines.
US Airways will also be re-eeting with
new Airbus narrowbodies. The carrier has 35
Airbus A321 aircraft on order, four with CFM
engines and 31 with IAE engines. It also has
10 Airbus A320s on order, four with CFM en-
gines and six with IAE engines. And it has one
A319 to be delivered with an IAE engine.
On the widebody side, there will be a clear
split between aircraft types. American will re-
ceive 12 new Boeing 777-300ERs with General
Electric engines, and ve 777-200ERs aircraft
with Rolls-Royce engines. US Airways, on the
other hand, has gone with Airbus models. It
awaits eight Airbus A330-200s, 18 A350-800s
and four A350-900s.
As the new aircraft types come in, the carri-
ers have plans to retire older models. In 2013
alone, American plans to remove 12 757-200s,
six 767-200ERs and 39 MD-80s.
Further down the road the carriers may
standardise the number of seats on their Boe-
ing 737-800s and Airbus A320-family narrow-
bodies so they can be substituted, but the air-
lines have not discussed that decision yet.
A good thing you want to have [is] a consist-
ent brand and product to the customer, says
Karnik. Money is made by having the same
number of seats and the same eet type.
Theres going to be more
work on the supply side of
the industry post-merger
JACK AREHART
Co-chief commercial ofcer, AAR
The merged airline must make best use of spare capacity at Americans Tulsa facility
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MRO
KRISTIN MAJCHER MONTREAL
The demise of Air Canadas former maintenance division has created opportunities for
local and international players to tap its workforce and diversify into new areas
OUT OF THE ASHES
Premier is strengthening large
regional jet capabilities
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he maintenance, repair and overhaul
(MRO) landscape in Canada has
changed signicantly within the past
year since Montreal-based Aveos Fleet
Performance led for bankruptcy and immedi-
ately shut its doors on 18 March 2012.
Following the closure, Aveoss assets and
capacity were distributed among several
maintenance organisations with diverse capa-
bilities and business models.
Aveos, formerly known as Air Canada
Technical Services, was formed after being
spun off from Air Canada parent group ACE
Aviation Holdings in 2007. Along with heavy
maintenance services, it had an extensive en-
gine and component capability. But in the
wake of its departure from the industry, no
MRO company will be restarting a mainte-
nance operation with all those capabilities.
Instead, the capabilities have been absorbed
by several players some local, some interna-
tional that say diversifying operations is the
key to success in the North American MRO mar-
ket, while standing up to global competition.
These players want to leverage the exper-
tise of the workforce while maintaining their
own brand. In Montreal alone, about 1,800
Aveos staff were left without work. Several
companies, including Avianor, Kelly Aviation
Center and A J Walter Aviation, have hired ex-
Aveos employees.
As Aveoss main customer, Air Canada was
faced with transferring its maintenance work
to other MRO companies immediately and
the ag carrier blamed the shutdown for a
C$55 million ($54 million) loss in net income
for 2012.
COST IMPACT
JetBlue Airways also felt the impact, telling
investors in October that it expected a cost im-
pact of $8 million from Aveoss bankruptcy,
brought down from a previous estimate of $10
million. The low-cost carrier had a parts
agreement with Aveos for its Airbus A320s.
Cost-conscious Air Canada stated in a regu-
latory ling in August 2012 that new, more
competitive maintenance contracts will help it
improve turnaround times and realise mean-
ingful cost savings. Many of the companies
that have purchased assets after the group went
bankrupt have absorbed that work or already
had previous relationships with the carrier.
After Aveos shut down, its specialities were
divided into three maintenance divisions: air-
frame, components and engine. Engine and
component maintenance facilities were pur-
chased by two international companies
Lockheed Martin Canada and AJ Walter Avia-
tion while the heavy maintenance division
was split between a liquidation rm and ve
maintenance companies US-based AAR
Aircraft Services; global company Premier
Aviation; and Canadian groups Avianor, Dis-
covery Air Technical Services (DATS) and
Avmax Aviation Services for C$10.8 million
after the court passed a motion to uphold the
transaction in June.
Interested bidders felt there was a limited
role in a global context for Aveoss heavy

fightglobal.com 44
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9-15 April 2013
MRO
maintenance model. It said the structure
of the business was not globally competi-
tive. However, while no company wanted to
restart Aveos as a large company, several
wanted portions to add to their own opera-
tions, which often include services beyond
commercial heavy maintenance.
DATS says diversication is the key to suc-
cess for maintenance organisations in the
North American market. The Quebec City-
based rm is using assets from the Aveos
bankruptcy to expand into the MRO market
for Embraer E-175 and E-190 models.
DATSs maintenance certicate now covers
Transport Canada and European Aviation
Safety Agency approvals for the Embraer
E-135 and E-145 models and Bombardier
CRJ100/200 jets. It also covers ATRs, the Dash-
8, SAAB 340 and Boeing 737, as well as Chal-
lenger 600s and Learjets. The Aveos assets
will allow the company to expand into main-
tenance for larger regional aircraft, which will
become more prominent in regional airline
eets in the next few years as US-based major
airlines shed their 50-seat aircraft.
DATS had been planning to make this move,
says Cavin Tuitt, vice-president sales and mar-
keting, but the Aveos closure allowed it to add
the capability faster than it expected. It did
create some opportunities for us, says Tuitt.
DATS has capacity for six lines of regional jets
at its Quebec City facility and focuses largely
on maintaining its own eet in Calgary.
Along with its heavy maintenance arm,
parent company Discovery Air has seven sub-
sidiaries, including a eet of 160 aircraft in-
cluding military aircraft and helicopters. It
also provides charter services, logistics sup-
port and engineering.
DATS says being part of a larger company
differentiates it from other maintenance pro-
viders. Right now, our vision is to grow and
become a world-class MRO company, to grow
globally and to provide MRO services not
only to airline companies, commercial air-
lines, but maybe do some military business,
some corporate business, says Tuitt.
Trois-Rivires, Quebec-based Premier Avia-
tion has also used the Air Canada transaction
to its advantage by gaining more work for
large regional jets.
Premier has been strengthening its large re-
gional jet maintenance capabilities for Bombar-
dier and Embraer aircraft and intends to add
the Bombardier Q400 to the list of aircraft on its
heavy maintenance capability list, says Ronnie
Di Bartolo, president and chief executive.
Q400 TALKS
Premier began training staff several months
ago for the Q400 and is in negotiations with
clients for maintenance work, Di Bartolo says.
While there is no rm timetable for adding the
capability, he says there is a very good pos-
sibility it will add the capability in 2013. The
maintenance centre already has capabilities
for older DHC-8-series turboprops.
Premier also started performing ATR 72
maintenance in January to add to its existing
ATR 42 capability, and added E-175 and
E-190 capabilities following the Aveos bank-
ruptcy, when it bought up about 2,000 pieces
of heavy tooling and equipment. Premier also
added Boeing 767, 777 and 747 tooling to ex-
pand its services for those aircraft types.
Premier has since performed more than 16
heavy maintenance visits on E-175s and E-190s
at Trois-Rivieres, including work under a long-
term agreement for maintenance on part of Air
Canadas eet, which operates 45 E-190s and is
in the process of transferring 15 E-175s to Sky
Regional under a ying agreement.
Premier has roughly 679,000ft (63,000m)
hangar space across three facilities, including
a 379,000ft overhaul centre in Rome in New
York State, acquired in 2010. The mainte-
nance centre opened its largest location in
Windsor, Ontario in September 2012.
The three facilities have total capacity to
maintain 18 narrowbody aircraft simultane-
ously. Di Bartolo says the Trois-Rivieres facil-
ity is booked for 2013, with capacity in Wind-
sor for one or two more lines of heavy
maintenance and three to four narrowbody
lines in Rome, New York.
Diversication in the case of Avianor, based
at Quebecs Mirabel airport, derives from a
unique business model of managing cabin
reconguration projects for airlines as well as
doing heavy maintenance checks.
In addition to C-checks, Avianor tries to
maximise out-of-service time for aircraft by
installing interiors and in-ight entertain-
ment. But going a step further, the rm has
found a speciality in taking care of the whole
process, including procuring seats and interi-
or components, designing the layout and cer-
ticating the project.
We have engineering, we have value added,
and its our value-added proposition that
makes us competitive and puts us in demand,
Our vision is to grow
and become a world-class
MRO company
CAVIN TUITT
Vice-president, sales and marketing, DATS

The Aveos closure has allowed DATS to grow more quickly than expected
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45 fightglobal.com
MRO
says Earl Diamond, co-owner of Avianor.
He says the company does not measure its
work in available man hours like some MRO
groups, but sees itself as more of a project man-
ager, offering an airline a turnkey solution to
their aircraft reconguration problem.
Avianor procured more than C$1 million in
assets as part of the Aveos restructuring proc-
ess, says Diamond, including tools from its
wheel shop in Toronto, brake shop in Mon-
treal and non-destructive testing equipment.
Avianor performed substantial wheel and
brake work for Air Canada immediately fol-
lowing the Aveos closure, and says the shut-
down led to an inux of immediate growth in
its business for 2012. We were projecting our
business to grow by 5%; our business grew by
30%, says Diamond.
For the next year, Avianor plans to grow by
another 30%, which will be a combination of
commercial heavy maintenance work and an
arrangement it has with neighbouring
L3-MAS to perform heavy maintenance as a
subcontractor for the Canadian Department of
National Defence. Avianor is exclusively a
commercial operator otherwise, but is able to
use the contract to diversify its offerings.
The two companies taking on the compo-
nent and engine side of the Aveos business are
also operations with several different facets.
Lockheed Martin Canada has a strong hand
in the defence sector but will enhance its com-
mercial maintenance offering by opening
Kelly Aviation Centre Montreal in Aveoss
former facility at Montreals Pierre Elliott
Trudeau International airport.
Lockheed opened the 525,000ft MRO cen-
tre to complement its commercial repair cen-
tre in San Antonio, Texas.
The second Montreal-based arm of Kelly
Aviation Services is in the process of ramping
up its operation and expects to induct its rst
engine by April.
It will seek contracts from global customers
for commercial engine work, specialising ini-
tially on CFM International CFM56 and Gen-
eral Electric CF34 engines. However, it is also
positioning to move into the realm of military
maintenance by 2014, says Amy Gowder,
vice-president and general manager of Kelly
Aviation Center.
On the component side, AJ Walter Group is
moving into the MRO sector for the rst time by
setting up its AJW Technique business in Ave-
oss former component facility, also near
Montreal- Pierre Elliott Trudeau International
airport. The maintenance provider has scaled
down Aveoss facility but says it will not shed
capabilities as it is cutting costs.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
Owning a facility with technological advance-
ments such as the Aveos shop was a once-in-
a-lifetime opportunity that allowed AJ Wal-
ter to expand its brand into MRO services,
says Gavin Simmonds, general manager of the
new component maintenance centre.
AJW Technique will support UK-based AJ
Walter Aviations 800 customers and is in seri-
ous talks with at least 12 airline and MRO cus-
tomers for work, with interest coming from
South America, the Middle East, Russia and
Australia, says Simmonds. We will support
AJ Walter Aviation, but were also an MRO
shop in our own right, he adds.
Illinois-based AAR says it has used the re-
sources it purchased from the Aveos bank-
ruptcy more for general growth and expansion
than for adding specic capabilities. However,
it did sign a letter of intent with Air Canada to
take on airframe maintenance work for the
carriers A320s in December.
Opening the 188,000ft facility in Duluth,
Minnesota formerly operated by Northwest
Airlines, will add 400,000 man hours and four
to ve additional hangar slots to AARs opera-
tion, including three lines of nose-to-tail work
and modications by the end of 2013. AAR
operates ve main MRO facilities and expects
capacity to reach about ve million man hours
with the added capacity.
Kristin Majcher tweets as @KristinInFlight and
writes news stories for our MRO channel at
ightglobal.com/news/mro
We were projecting our
business to grow by 5%; our
business grew by 30%
EARL DIAMOND
Co-owner, Avianor
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READER SERVICES
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andrew.doyle@fightglobal.com
Managing Editor Niall OKeeffe
+44 20 8652 4007
niall.okeeffe@fightglobal.com
News Editor Dominic Perry +44 20 8652 3206
dominic.perry@fightglobal.com
Acting Deputy News Editor Martin Rivers
+44 20 8652 8534 martin.rivers@fightglobal.com
Air Transport Editor David Kaminski-Morrow
+44 20 8652 3909
david.kaminski-morrow@fightglobal.com
Business Editor Dan Thisdell +44 20 8652 4491
dan.thisdell@fightglobal.com
Defence Editor Craig Hoyle +44 20 8652 3834
craig.hoyle@fightglobal.com
Operations/Safety Editor David Learmount
+44 20 8652 3845
david.learmount@fightglobal.com
Business & General Aviation Editor
Kate Sarsfeld +44 20 8652 3885
kate.sarsfeld@fightglobal.com
Air Transport/MRO Reporter Michael Gubisch
+44 20 8652 8747
michael.gubisch@fightglobal.com
Magazine Enquiries Dawn Hartwell
+44 20 8652 3315
dawn.hartwell@fightglobal.com
EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST
Israel Correspondent Arie Egozi
Russia Correspondent Vladimir Karnozov
AMERICAS
Americas Managing Editor Stephen Trimble
+1 703 836 8052 stephen.trimble@fightglobal.com
Deputy Americas Air Transport Editor Ghim-Lay Yeo
+1 703 706 9474 ghimlay.yeo@fightglobal.com
Americas Air Transport Reporter Edward Russell
+1 703 836 1897 edward.russell@fightglobal.com
UAV & Spacefight Editor Zach Rosenberg
+1 703 836 7442 zach.rosenberg@fightglobal.com
Military Reporter Dave Majumdar
+1 703 548 4706 dave.majumdar@fightglobal.com
MRO and Air Transport Reporter Kristin Majcher
+1 703 836 8053 kristin.majcher@fightglobal.com
ASIA/PACIFIC
Asia Managing Editor Siva Govindasamy
+65 6780 4311 siva.govindasamy@fightglobal.com
Deputy Asia Editor Greg Waldron
+65 6780 4314 greg.waldron@fightglobal.com
Reporter Mavis Toh
+65 6780 4309 mavis.toh@fightglobal.com
Reporter Ellis Taylor
+65 6780 4307 ellis.taylor@fightglobal.com
Australia Correspondent Emma Kelly
FLIGHTGLOBAL AIRLINES
Editor Airline Business
Max Kingsley-Jones +44 20 8652 3825
max.kingsley.jones@fightglobal.com
Managing Editor Graham Dunn
+44 20 8652 4995 graham.dunn@fightglobal.com
Content Editor Alex Thomas
+44 20 8652 3184 alex.thomas@fightglobal.com
EDITORIAL PRODUCTION
Head of Design & Production Alexis Rendell
+44 20 8652 8127 alexis.rendell@rbi.co.uk
Global Chief Copy Editor Lewis Harper
+44 20 8652 4958 lewis.harper@icis.com
Chief Copy Editor, Europe Dan Bloch
+44 20 8652 8146 dan.bloch@icis.com
Global Production Editor Louise Murrell
+44 20 8652 8139 louise.murrell@rbi.co.uk
Deputy Global Production Editor Rachel Kemp
Production Assistant Lizabeth Davis
Designer Lauren Mills
Senior Editorial Artist Tim Bicheno-Brown
Consulting Technical Artist Tim Hall
FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM
Head of Web
Michael Targett +44 20 8652 3863
michael.targett@fightglobal.com
Editor Stuart Clarke +44 20 8652 3835
stuart.clarke@fightglobal.com
Digital Production Editor Colin Miller
Web Production Editor Andrew Costerton
DISPLAY ADVERTISEMENT SALES
Quadrant House, The Quadrant,
Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS, UK.

Group Display Sales Manager Stuart Burgess
stuart.burgess@fightglobal.com
Sales Support Gillian Cumming
+44 20 8652 8837
gillian.cumming@rbi.co.uk
EUROPE
Sales Manager Shawn Buck
+44 20 8652 4998 shawn.buck@fightglobal.com
Sales Manager Mark Hillier
+44 20 8652 8022 mark.hillier@fightglobal.com
Display Account Manager Grace Hewitt
+44 20 8652 3469 grace.hewitt@fightglobal.com
NORTH & SOUTH AMERICA
Vice-President, North & South America
Rob Hancock +1 703 836 7444
robert.hancock@fightglobal.com
Regional Sales Director
Warren McEwan +1 703 836 3719
warren.mcewan@fightglobal.com
Sales Executive
Rachel Sunderland +1 703 836 7445
rachel.sunderland@fightglobal.com
Sales Manager
Steven Kulikowski +1 630 288 8034
steven.kulikowski@fightglobal.com
Reed Business Information, 333 N.Fairfax Street,
Suite 301, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA
ITALY
Sales Manager Riccardo Laureri
+39 (02) 236 2500 media@laureriassociates.it
Laureri Associates SRL, Via Vallazze 43,
20131 Milano, Italy
ISRAEL
Sales Executive Asa Talbar +972 77 562 1900
Fax: +972 77 562 1903 talbar@talbar.co.il
Talbar Media, 41 HaGivaa St, PO Box 3184, Givat
Ada 37808, Israel
ASIA/AUSTRALASIA
Sales Manager Michael Tang
+65 6780 4301 michael.tang@fightglobal.com
Fax: +65 6789 7575
1 Changi Business Park Crescent,
#06-01 Plaza 8 @ CBP
Singapore 486025
RUSSIA & CIS
Director Arkady Komarov
komarov@worldbusinessmedia.ru
Tel/Fax: +7 (495) 987 3800
World Business Media, Leningradsky Prospekt, 80,
Korpus G, Offce 807, Moscow 125190, Russia
CLASSIFIED & RECRUITMENT
+44 20 8652 4900; +44 20 8652 4897
Group Sales Manager Lucinda Chia
+44 20 8652 8507
lucinda.chia@rbi.co.uk
Key Account Manager Edward Longmate
+44 20 8652 4900 recruitment.services@rbi.co.uk
Key Account Manager Michael Tang
+65 6780 4301
Sales Executives Oliver Kingston, Katie Mann
ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION
Production Manager Sean Behan
+44 20 8652 8232 sean.behan@rbi.co.uk
Production Manager Classifed Alan Blagrove
+44 20 8652 4406 alan.blagrove@rbi.co.uk
MARKETING
Marketing Director Fiona Benharoosh
+44 20 8564 6711 fona.benharoosh@rbi.co.uk
Senior Marketing Manager Ben Colclough
+44 20 8564 6722 ben.colclough@rbi.co.uk
Head of Marketing Georgina Rushworth
+44 20 8652 8138 georgina.rushworth@rbi.co.uk
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CLASSIFIED
TEL +44 (0) 20 8652 4897 FAX +44 (0) 20 8652 3779 EMAIL classified.services@rbi.co.uk
Calls may be monitored for training purposes
We are pleased to announce that Tim Leacock Aircraft Sales
is now the UK Independent Authorised Sales Representative
for Gulfstream Aerospace.
See Gulfstreams full model range at the European Business
Aviation Convention & Exhibition, Geneva, May 21-23.
Telephone +44 (0) 1258 818181
tim@timleacockaircraft.com timleacockaircraft.com
A new partnership...
Aircraft spares
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+44 1865 841234 oxfordacademy@cae.com
Modular ATPL Full-time
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Enrol now for 2013 courses
s Airline start-ups and development
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atlanticbridgeaviation.com
Tel +44(1)1797 322 655
email: enquiries@atlanticbridgeaviation.com
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Parts Specialists
www. al pi ne. aer o
Tel: +41 52 345 3605
GET THE BOEING 737 / AIRBUS 320 EXPERIENCE
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Online Aviation Training
From an EASA Part 147 Approved Training Organisation
www.lrtt.co.uk
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Fuel Tank Safety
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T: +44 (0) 1285 772669
E: info@lrtt.co.uk
Courses and tuition
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Tenders
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flightglobal.com/jobs
EMAIL recruitment.services@rbi.co.uk CALL +44 (20) 8652 4900 FAX +44 (20) 8652 4877
Getting careers off the ground
flightglobal.com 9-15 April 2013 | Flight International | 51
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- Lx-UK mllltary pllots to be
qualled nylng lnstructors on
the Grob Tutor ll5L alrcraft
wlthln the elementary nylng
tralnlng envlronment at PAPC
Cranwell and PAP 8arkston
Heath, and the Unlverslty Alr
Squadron envlronment at
PAPs 8enson, Church Penton,
Leuchars and woodvale.
- At PAP woodvale: nlght
lleutenant (any 8ranch) as
statlon ad[utant on part-
tlme dutles.
|nterested appllcants should apply
vla the PAP Peserves webslte
(www.raf.mod.uk/rafreserves)
ln the rst lnstance.
Purther lnformatlon can be
obtalned at PAPC Cranwell
0l400-266l28/6ll8
- At PAPC Cranwell: ex-UK mllltary
educatlon omcers to act as
squadron tralnlng omcers, and
a squadron leader (any 8ranch)
as HQ UAS stan omcer.
- At PAPC Cranwell: ex-UK
mllltary avlatlon englneers
(omcer and alrman).
RESERVES
The Royal Air Force Reserves are currently recruiting
to fll the following Full Time Reserve Service
vacancies within No3 Flying Training School:
We are currently looking for:
Head of Multi-Crew Pilot Training
To manage our Simulator Department to ensure the highest
standard of syllabus design/development and the delivery of
training for MCC, JOC and MPL courses.
The successful candidate will be a current or recently
retired pilot with extensive training experience in an airline
environment and will hold a TRI or SFI qualification.
For details and applications please visit
http://www.ftejerez.com/job
We offer an attractive remuneration package, including
a pension scheme, as well as relocation assistance to an
unbeatable location in Jerez, Southern Spain.
Choose training excellence; choose FTEJerez.
MACH AVIATION SERVICES LIMITED
As part of our on-going expansion Mach Aviaon Services Limited require
a high achieving, dynamic and ambious aircra sales professional for the
U.K. and Channel Islands to promote and sell our porolio of aircra which
includes the highly presgious Beechcra range.
Candidates will need to prove an outstanding sales record in a similar role
and demonstrate the ability to network, plan and manage a large territory.
Excellent communicaon/interpersonal skills are essenal with experience
of inuencing/negoang at high levels. Very compeve remuneraon
with excellent rewards for successful candidate.
Applicaons in wring from high achievers
only with an up to date C.V. to:
Mr. Joe McCarthy,
Mach Aviaon Services Limited, E: jmccarthy@mach.ie
www.ightglobal.com/jobs
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flightglobal.com 9-15 April 2013 | Flight International | 53
54 | Flight International | 9-15 April 2013 ightglobal.com
AVIATION RECRUITMENT
WORLDWIDE
T: +44 (0)1483 748252
E: aviation@wynnwith.com
W: www.wynnwith.com
wynnwith
www.ryanaviation.net
Email: recruitment@sigmaaviationservices.com
www.sigmaaviationservices.com
Tel: +353 1 669 8224
Fax: +353 1 669 8201
Email: recruitment@sigmaaviationservices.com
www.sigmaaviationservices.com
www.aircraf-commerce.com
+44 (0)1403 240 183
Recruitment Support
to the Aviation Industry
T: +44(0)1483 332000
recruitment@zenon.aero
aviation recruitment
www.ctcaviation.com/ctcflexicrew
CTC FlexiCrew
High flyers, on demand
Seeks Type Rated Pilots
Locations UK & Worldwide
Flexible & Permanent Positions
Global Aviation Recruitment Solutions
Rebecca Anderson, Kelly Biggart, Holly
Sawkins, Billy McDougall, Lee Walker
Tel: +44(0)141 270 5007
E-mail:
aviation@firstpeoplesolutions.co.uk
www.firstpeoplesolutions.co.uk
/||q|t c/ew
Iec|n|ca|
/e//y /||q|ts
/secat|ve 5ea/c|
+353 1 816 1774
sales@parcaviation.aero
www.parcaviation.aero
Contract and Permanent recruitment
for the Aviation industry
David Rowe, Alastair Millar,
Jodie Green, Ian Chapman
Tel: +44 (0)1737 821011
Email: aero@cbsbutler.com
www.cbsbutler.com
RECRUITMENT FOR AVIATION
EASA E-LEARNING COURSES
Tel: +44 (0) 1284 700676
Email: info@e-techs.co
www.e-techs.co
Looking for on contract basis consultants with
working experience gained from aircra
manufacturers customer services business,
incl. maintenance & engineering, supply
chain management, aircra parts service,
technical publicaons, training, operaon
support and supplier contract management.
Email: yongq@3oac.com Tel: +44 20 8643 3981
www.3oac.com
Three Oaks Aviaon Consultancy Ltd.
Global Aerospace contract
personnel and work packages
e: progers@strongfieldtech.com
t: +44(0)20 8799 8916
w: www.strongfield.com
The preferred company for Stress (Fatigue & DT), GFEM,
Composites), Aeronautical Research. Business units:
Contract staff, Workpackages, Innovation and New
Concepts, Aeronautical Research. www.bishop-gmbh.com
Contact bishop.peter@bishop-gmbh.com
Tel 0049-(0)40-866-258-10 Fax 0049-(0)40-866-258-20
GCT Group
Worldwide specialist for
Aerospace Engineering,
Certification & Management
Services
e: yourcv@garner.de
t: +49 (0) 8153 93130
w: www.garner.de
Recruiting Stress, Design and Fatigue & DT
engineers for our ofces in:
Amsterdam
Bangalore
Bristol
Glasgow

Hamburg
Seattle
aerospace.info@atkinsglobal.com
FIND THE RIGHT MATCH
AVIATION RECRUITMENT SERVICES
WWW.JET-PROFESSIONALS.COM
Tel: 0041 58 158 8877
www.rishworthaviation.com
Flight crew, maintenance staff and
aviation executive positions, we have
your airlines recruitment and crew
leasing requirements covered
WORKING WEEK
9-15 April 2013
|
Flight International
|
55 fightglobal.com
How did you get started in
aviation?
My father owned and operated
Cape Central Airways in Cape Gir-
ardeau, Missouri. We ew every-
where and I was always allowed
to handle the controls. I have
worked in aviation all my life.
Growing up at the airport we
learned how to ride our bikes and
skate on the big ramps and hang-
ars. We had a maintenance shop
where I helped dope wings, over-
haul engines and perform mainte-
nance. Cape Girardeau held an
aircraft auction for many years,
with 50 to 200 aircraft arriving
once a month to be auctioned. I
was involved in all aspects and
even ferried quite a few aircraft to
and from the auction. We offered
crop-dusting, charter, ight in-
struction and aircraft sales. I
worked every weekend on the line
or in the ofce selling fuel, renting
aircraft, handling charters, book-
ing crop-spraying, renting cars, or-
dering catering and maintenance.
It was a blast. My father had a Ces-
sna and Mooney dealership, plus
we bought and sold used aircraft.
When did you leave?
Some of the more interesting and
demanding ying I have carried
out was for the US Forest Service
as an air attack pilot on res in
Idaho and Montana. In October
1974, I went to work for Ty Cobb
Aircraft Sales in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana. In October 1975, I
started selling aircraft for Avcor
Industries in Waco, Texas, where I
met the owners of RAM Aircraft.
In June 1976, RAM started busi-
ness and leased space in Avcors
hangar. In October 1976, I accept-
ed a sales position with Seven Bar
Flying Service in Albuquerque,
New Mexico. I moved back to
Waco in January 1978 and took a
sales/pilot position with RAM.
What is RAMs mission?
RAM specialises in the overhaul
of Continental Motors IO-520,
IO-550, TSIO-520, TSIOL-550
and GTSIO-520-series engines. It
holds 113 FAA approved supple-
mental type certicates for
airframe, engine and propeller
horsepower upgrades to these
powerplants and the aircraft they
are installed in. RAM holds more
than 800 parts manufacturing
authorisation approvals for these
engines and airframes.
What are your duties?
I am manager of engine sales. I also
perform test ights for returning
aircraft to service and give famil-
iarisation ights to the owner on
delivery. I perform pick-up and
delivery, once to Cannes, France,
and STC certication ight testing.
I take calls from prospective cus-
tomers and work with them
through the signing of the pur-
chase order to invoicing and
delivery test ights. We also ship
engines so we arrange invoicing,
payment, shipping and core
engine return. RAM can ship
complete upgrade engine packag-
es to any installing repair station
around the globe. We also install
or ship our winglet performance
package and vortex generators,
and we have a large catalogue of
parts and accessories for sale.
What is your favourite part of
the job?
I enjoy it all. Interacting with cus-
tomers, working with fellow em-
ployees, completing a quality in-
stallation and the test ights.
Satised customers are my goal.
Other than having an opportunity
to be in such a great industry, I re-
ally enjoy ying and the wonder-
ful feeling it gives me. One memo-
ry is at Oshkosh a few years back,
when Gene Cernan the astronaut
was in our booth talking about his
Cessna 421B and Chuck Yeager
came by to discuss some operating
techniques on a Cessna 421C he
was ying. Bob Hoover was walk-
ing by and saw the crowd and
stopped to say hello and, a couple
of minutes later, Burt and Dick
Rutan appeared. There I was,
standing among the greatest avia-
tion legends of our generation.
WORK EXPERIENCE DAVID SEESING
From reghts to customer care
Lifelong multitasker David Seesing is a senior sales consultant, project manager, international sales centre
representative and test pilot for RAM Aircraft in Waco, Texas, working on Cessna, Beechcraft and Cirrus aircraft
For more employee work
experiences, pay a visit to
ightglobal.com/workingweek
If you would like to feature in
Working Week, or you know
someone who does, email your
pitch to murdo.morrison@
ightglobal.com
Seesing has own for the US Forest Service and sold aircraft for Avcor
Opportunities for Lean Experts
www.jobs.eads.com
Y O U R F L I G H T I S O U R MI S S I O N

Chronospace
Selfwinding chronograph
Ofcially chronometer-certied
Slide-rule
Water-resistant to 200 m/660 ft