Irkut unveils main suppliers for MS-21 twin-jet

Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation has unveiled the main system suppliers for the planned three-member MS-21 twin-jet family. Contractors were selected following international tenders invited last year by airframer Irkut, which is steering the project and will act as a system integrator.

The bidding commission has awarded the following Russian and Western firms with mandates to supply ‘first-level’ systems:

• Landing-gear: Hydromash
• Auxiliary power unit and wing de-icing systems: Hamilton Sundstrand
• Air conditioning: NPO Nauka, in conjunction with Hamilton Sundstrand
• Fire protection system: Kidde Technologies’ L’Hotelier and Hamilton Sundstrand
• Hydraulic controls: Eaton, with 50% component production at Russian firms Voskhod, Teploobmennik, Tekhpribor and Znamya. 

Irkut has selected Zodiac’s C&D supply cabin interiors, as well as its Intertechnique division for the fuel management and oxygen system.

Intertechnique will also join with Hamilton Sundstrand on a neutral gas system, while Zodiac subsidiary ECE and Hamilton Sundstrand are to provide electrical systems.

The bidding commission has also shortlisted proposals from the following firms for further evaluation:

• Engines: Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce
• Avionics: Rockwell Collins and Avionika
• Integrated control system: Aviapribor Holding, along with Goodrich and Moog, and Liebherr Aerospace 

Irkut is planning to complete selecting contractors to supply these three systems by 1 November.

Its MS-21 will comprise three models, the first of which will be the 150-seat MS-21-200. This will be followed by the -300 and -400 with 181 and 212 seats respectively. Irkut expects the first aircraft to be operational by 2016.

Source: Yakovlev Design Bureau

U.S. Defense Secretary Underscores F-35 Importance During Lockheed Martin Visit

United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] final assembly operation for the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter today, conveying optimism for the program’s future and emphasizing the F-35’s importance to global security.

“We cannot afford as a nation not to have this airplane,” Gates said at a news conference following a tour of the factory where the F-35 is assembled. “I was very impressed by what I saw this morning – by the investments that have been made in the production line, the robotics and automation. I’m heartened by what I’ve seen … but especially by the commitment of the people involved in putting this airplane together.”

Gates walked along portions of the mile-long factory floor, where he stopped to converse with F-35 workers, and saw all three variants of the aircraft in various stages of assembly.

Robert J. Stevens, chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp., said it was a “great honor” to host Secretary Gates.

“The purpose of the Secretary’s visit was to make very clear to us his expectations and our need to perform to our plans. That means producing a superior technological product and making sure that we maintain our schedule, enable the government to start training pilots in 2011, and fully equipping the Marine Corps for initial operational capability in 2012. It also means we’ll support our allied governments’ interests in the program while maintaining affordability,” Stevens said. “So, there’s a full array of things that we have to do, but we have great confidence in the team that we’ve put together here.”

The visit was Gates’ first to Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth plant, which also has served as the final assembly point for the B-24 Liberator, B-36 Peacemaker, B-58 Hustler, F-111 Aardvark and F-16 Fighting Falcon.

The Lockheed Martin F-35 is a 5^th generation fighter, uniquely characterized by a combination of advanced stealth with supersonic speed and high agility, sensor fusion, network-enabled capabilities and advanced sustainment. The three F-35 variants are derived from a common design, are being developed together and will use the same sustainment infrastructure worldwide, bringing economies of commonality and scale.

The United States and eight international partners are planning to buy more than 3,000 F-35 aircraft.

Source: Lockheed Martin

ATR to present first ATR ‘-600 series’ aircraft on October 1st

ATR is pleased to announce the official presentation of the first ATR ‘-600 series’ aircraft, an ATR 72-600, at a ceremony which will take place on October 1st in Toulouse.

The new ‘-600 series’ programme for both models, ATR 72-600 and ATR 42-600, launched in October 2007, is progressing accordingly to the scheduled calendar.

The first ATR 72-600 aircraft started its flight trials campaign on July 24, 2009 after being powered-on in December 2008.

Flight trials for the first ATR 42-600 aircraft will take place next year.

These two aircraft should make some 150 and 75 flight hours respectively in order to test the new equipment, including a new avionics suite and the most modern navigation aid tools. The ATR ‘-600 series’ aircraft, powered with PW 127M engines, take an additional 500 Kg on MTOW (Maximum Take-off weight) and MZFW (Maximum Zero Fuel Weight).

These aircraft will feature the lowest fuel consumption per passenger and the lowest CO2 emissions, thus positioning themselves as the most ecological solution for regional transportation.

Furthermore, the ATR ‘-600 series’ is to be fitted with a new cabin, currently under development, offering the most modern standards of comfort and design. According to plan, certification will lead to the entry into service of the first commercial ATR 72-600s and ATR 42-600s in 2011.

Today, two years after the launch of this programme, ATR has already booked orders for 59 ATR ‘-600 series’ aircraft (5 ATR 42-600s and 54 ATR 72-600s).

Source: ATR

Boeing to Provide Network for US Air Force C-17 Training

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 31, 2009 – The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has received a contract from the U.S. Air Force to deliver a C-17 Distributed Training Center (DTC) to Scott Air Force Base, Ill. Boeing will provide the ability to network 10 existing C-17 training sites in the United States, using Scott Air Force Base as the hub.

“This capability will allow the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command (AMC) to conduct continuation and mission qualification training, execute mission rehearsal operations, develop tactics, and participate in large force exercises in a realistic environment at a fraction of live-fly costs and with very little risk,” said Sean Carey, AMC program manager for Distributed Mission Operations (DMO).

Boeing expects to deliver the DTC in January 2012. The 10 training sites will maintain their existing connections to the DMO network, which allows military aircraft training sites around the world to link with one another for large-scale, high-fidelity training operations.

The C-17 established its networking capability in 2004, allowing C-17 crews to participate in “Virtual Flag” exercises with multiple aircraft platforms for the first time. In order to support the large amount of bandwidth required as additional C-17 training sites were added, Boeing began upgrading the associated hardware and software in 2007.

The C-17-specific DTC will extend current C-17 DMO capabilities, allowing for higher-fidelity aircrew training; it also will provide the airlift community with a continuously available training network capability.

“Expanding the AMC’s DMO capability allows for interoperability between simulators within AMC, as well as between AMC and other Air Force major commands, and joint and coalition partners,” said Mark McGraw, Boeing vice president, Training Systems and Services. “Mission-ready C-17 aircrews are essential to global security. This program ensures that they will receive the most realistic, comprehensive training available.”

Source: Boeing

Strike Eagles surpass 8,000 combat hours, support unique missions

by Capt. David Faggard
455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

8/31/2009 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) – Airmen from the 336th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron achieved a milestone here when they surpassed 8,000 combat hours in the F-15E Strike Eagle while providing security to coalition forces.

The aircrew for the mission included Capt. Jaina Donberg, the F-15E pilot and a native of Arlington, Va., and Capt. Nick Foster, an F-15E weapons system officer and a native of Martinsburg, W.V.  Launching the mission was F-15E crew chief, Senior Airman John Yates, a native of Pawtucket, Rhode Island and a six-year-veteran of the F-15 C and E family.

The crews provided security for a helicopter re-supply point that night and even coordinated communications between the helicopters and coalition forces on the ground due the area’s harsh terrain, according to Captain Foster.

“This re-supply was important because the only way to re-supply was via air because the roads were too hostile and rugged to move a convoy,” he said.

“Everything went smooth,” said Airman Yates, who is just three years older than this airplane. He said he just wanted to launch the mission and help save lives. “We try to give (the aircrew) a jet they don’t have to worry about; they need to focus on the mission and save the lives of our people on the ground.”

“This really is (the Maintenance Squadron’s) record,” said Captain Foster. “They have done an outstanding job producing the jets for us in a less than ideal environment. All the credit is due to them for the great work… (which) allows us to support the ground commander and perform our mission. For every hour flown there are countless hours of work done by our maintainers to get the jets back in the air.”

Other F-15E missions here include anything from providing close-air support for coalition forces on the ground in contact with the enemy to supporting the recent Afghan elections on Aug. 20.

One of those missions, according to officials at the Air Force’s Combined Air and Space Operation’s Center, found F-15Es providing security to a convoy transporting election ballots from polling precincts to counting houses.

Coalition forces on the ground reported taking sniper fire, rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire from various positions along the route. F-15E Strike Eagles were called in to hit the enemy positions with strafing runs and precision-guided munitions stopping the attack. The ballots were successfully delivered, according to the officials.

And the work done by the F-15E squadron in the sky is noticed by the ground forces. There have been many occasions where maintainers and aircrew were thanked by Soldiers on base for their work keeping the jets in the sky, according to Airman Yates.

“There have been times when (the soldiers) come up and say ‘you guys saved our lives.’ That’s a great feeling,” said Airman Yates.

“336th pilots and WSOs never doubt that these jets are ready for prime time,” said Lt. Col. Neil Allen, 336th EFS commander. “They are safe, tactical, and ready for the mission, each and every day, no matter what. More importantly, the American and coalition heroes on the ground who count on the air component know that the F-15Es and other Air Force assets are ready for the fight. This truth is a testament to the men and women who keep these assets flying.”

The 336th EFS is deployed from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.

Source: USAF

E-3 damaged while landing at Nellis

8/31/2009 - NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFNS) – An E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft was damaged while landing Aug. 28 at Nellis Air Force Base.

The 32-person crew safely evacuated the aircraft and the subsequent fire was quickly extinguished by Nellis AFB emergency response forces.

The aircraft, flown by Airmen of the 552nd Air Control Wing from Tinker AFB, Okla., is deployed to Nellis AFB for Red Flag Exercise 09-5 and was returning from a mission when the incident occurred. 

The Air Force will convene a formal board to thoroughly investigate and determine the cause of the mishap.

Source: USAF

Discovery at Station; First Spacewalk Tomorrow

Crews Focusing on Logistics Module Transfer

 

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:40:17 PM UTC+0200

 

Gloria Estefan’s “Mi Tierra” was played for space shuttle Discovery Mission Specialist Jose Hernandez at 1:30 p.m. EDT.

Discovery and International Space Station crew members will focus on the transfer of the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module from Discovery’s payload bay to the station’s Harmony node. Later, the crew will open Leonardo’s hatch and move the new life support and science research racks into the space station.

At 4 p.m., NASA television will air a post-Mission Management Team news briefing with Space Shuttle Program Deputy Manager and MMT Chairman LeRoy Cain.

Crews Moving Cargo Module, Preparing for Spacewalk

The combined crews of space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station are starting the first of eight days of joint operations. With the successful docking last night, the crews will focus on transfer work and spacewalks.

Pilot Kevin Ford and Expedition 20 Flight Engineer Mike Barratt will use the station robotic arm to move the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) from Discovery’s payload bay to the Earth-facing port on the station’s Harmony module. They’re expected to start the nearly three-hour maneuver just after 3:30 p.m. EDT. Mission specialists Christer Fuglesang of the European Space Agency and Tim Kopra will assist with the attachment and activation activity. After leak checks and pressurization, the teams are expected to open the hatches to the cargo module at 1:34 a.m. Tuesday.

The MPLM is carrying 15,000 pounds of supplies and equipment for use on the station, including more science facilities. The crew will spend the next several days unloading the hardware.

Meanwhile, transfer of equipment from the shuttle’s middeck will get under way. Mission specialists Pat Forrester, Jose Hernandez and Danny Olivas will carry over items from the shuttle to the station, including the spacesuits to be used in the upcoming spacewalks. Shuttle Commander Rick Sturckow will assist with transfer as well as monitor shuttle systems.

Flight Engineer Nicole Stott, whose rotation with Kopra on the station crew was made official yesterday, will conduct some transfer work and familiarization of her new home in space. She will join Olivas to set up their tools for tomorrow’s spacewalk. The two will be joined later by all of the U.S. crew members and station Commander Gennady Padalka for a procedures review for that spacewalk.

Source: NASA

Plane crashes during Polish air show, killing two pilots

WARSAW, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) — A Belarussian fighter jet crashed during an air show on Sunday in central Poland, killing the two pilots of the aircraft, local media reported.

    Witnesses said the Su-27 aircraft crashed shortly after starting the performance, far away from the tarmac and spectators at the show in Radom.

    Police spokeswoman Agnieszka Humelusz confirmed the death of the two pilots, who were from Poland’s Zelazny Aerial Acrobatics Group.

    Rescuers have already located the pilots’ bodies, the Polish news agency PAP quoted local sources as saying.

    There have been no official statements about the accident yet, according to news channel TVN24.

    The air show has been temporarily suspended.

Source: xinhuanet.com

STS-128 Crew Prepares for Docking

During their first full day in space, astronauts aboard Discovery conducted a daylong inspection of the space shuttle’s thermal protection system, checked out spacesuits and prepared to dock with the International Space Station.

With Commander Rick Sturckow at the controls, Discovery is scheduled to link up with the space station at 8:03 p.m. CDT Sunday.

Source: NASA

787 Dreamliner still a winner

SEATTLE — Boeing says it will still make a profit on its 787 Dreamliner program, now the most delayed — and, according to analysts, the most expensive — jet in the company’s history.

Even as executives announced a massive $2.5 billion write-off associated with the first-flight delays that now stretch to 28 months, they expressed confidence in its latest revised schedule.

Analysts are concerned about the mounting costs, but most were relieved the Dreamliner program is not in the red.

The new plan calls for the 787 to make its first flight by the end of this year.

Boeing also extended its flight-test program by one to three months longer than previously planned, so the first delivery to initial customer All Nippon Airways of Japan is now due in the final quarter of 2010.

The new timetable came two months after the plane maker announced a shocking last-minute delay to the planned first flight in June, postponed after stress tests revealed a structural flaw where the upper wing joins the side of the fuselage.

First flight originally was scheduled to happen precisely two years before Thursday’s announcement — Aug. 27, 2007.

“This is an incredibly complex program that’s been very tough to execute,” Boeing CEO Jim McNerney told employees in an internal message Thursday. “I know that none of us inside the company feel good about how the 787 program has played out over the past 18 to 24 months.”  

But McNerney said he has “a high degree of confidence” in Boeing’s plan to fix the Dreamliner’s structural problem, and in its new schedule.

“Having said that, we have added some cushion into the flight-test program against the possibility of unknowns,” he said in a conference call.

Pat Shanahan, vice president of airplane programs, said the “more conservative” flight-test schedule will provide a buffer to protect customer delivery dates from further slippage.

“We have left a little wiggle room, and it’s little,” Shanahan said. “It’s just to accommodate any disruption we might have in flight test or incorporating the (fix to the) side of body.”

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Scott Carson said that because the final-assembly line in Everett can roll out up to seven jets per month, a second line will be needed to meet the goal of delivering 10 Dreamliners a month by the end of 2013.

Boeing has said contenders for the second line are Everett; North Charleston, S.C.; and some unnamed locations. A site choice is due by the end of the year.

Boeing said it will take a $2.5 billion accounting charge this quarter because it considers the first three Dreamliners built to fly — airplanes that have been extensively modified and remodified — unsellable and suitable only for flight tests.

“Each airplane, while fully suited for the rigorous flight-test program and fully capable of meeting FAA certification requirements, has been determined to have limited commercial value,” Carson said.

Boeing still hopes to sell the three other flight-test planes as private jets.

The $2.5 billion figure represents the total amount spent to build those first three airplanes, including the costs of all the rework of initial assembly because of supply-chain problems, then the redesigns and modifications needed to fix structural problems.

But this is money already spent, so there is no hit to the company’s current cash position. “Substantially all of the cash outlays related to the amount written off have already occurred over the past couple of years,” Boeing Chief Financial Officer James Bell said.

He insisted that, despite that expense and further billions of dollars in costs incurred due to the delays, the Dreamliner program still will be profitable over the long term as Boeing delivers its large backlog of orders.

Morgan Stanley analyst Heidi Wood estimated this month that Boeing’s total 787 costs — including research and development spending, plus supplier claims, penalty payments to airlines for late delivery and the cost to set up a second assembly line — could be “in the vicinity of $20 billion.”

Joe Campbell, an analyst with Barclays Capital, said he’s now more worried about the cost of the program than the schedule.

He said Boeing has balked at requests from 787 supplier partners, which for more than two years have absorbed growing costs with no incoming revenue, to steeply increase what they are paid.

If Boeing were forced to comply, he said, the fixed costs per plane potentially could be raised to unprofitable levels.

Rob Stallard, an analyst with Macquarie Securities, wrote that the $2.5 billion write-off “is rather eye-watering, but we think it is better to take the pain now, remove the overhang and get on with the program.”

Stock traders seemed to agree. Boeing shares rose $4 to close at $51.82.

For now, Boeing’s focus is getting back on schedule.

The latest delay, which pushes out first flight as much as six months from the previous June 30 target, became necessary after engineers performing a stress test on the wing discovered that excess load at the ends of each of the wing stringers — the rods that stiffen the wing skins — had caused the fibrous layers of the composite plastic material to separate, or delaminate.

Shanahan said the fix for that flaw has been identified and tested on computer models. It will be installed simultaneously on both Dreamliner No. 1, the plane that will fly first, and on the ground-test airplane where the flaw was discovered.

Tests will be conducted on the ground to make sure that, with the fix installed, the delamination of the composite layers no longer occurs.

“I have absolute confidence that the analysis, the modeling and the design associated with the side-of-body (flaw) will work,” Shanahan said.

He called the fix, “a straightforward modification.”

“I don’t think there is a fundamental change to how we look at composite design or how we look at the design of the wing,” he said.

But he said installing the fix on each plane is difficult and slow due to “the limited access in the side-of-body area and the number of mechanics who can work in the center wing box at a given time.”

The first 15 Dreamliners will have the fix done in Everett. For subsequent jets, the wing-box suppliers will do modifications in Japan before sending the sections for final assembly.

Shanahan said other tests have proceeded while engineers have been working out the wing join fix. As a result, the first two airplanes otherwise are ready to take to the air.

“Both airplanes are functionally ready to fly on all accounts other than the side-of-body discovery,” Shanahan said.

Source: Mercurynews.com

First British Airways A318 arrives at London Gatwick

British Airways’ first Airbus A318, fitted with its all-business cabin, has arrived at London Gatwick ahead of final testing before being put into transatlantic service from London City.

Flightglobal travelled on the aircraft from Airbus’ Finkenwerder plant at Hamburg on its delivery flight to Gatwick today. The ferry flight included a test of the OnAir mobile connectivity system which will allow passengers to send and receive text and email messages.

British Airways is putting the 32-seat jet – already approved for 180min extended twin-engined operations – on the London City-New York JFK route at the end of September.

During a short delivery ceremony at Finkenwerder, Airbus’ regional sales director for Europe, Angus Robson, said the carrier becomes only the second, behind Air France, to operate the entire A320 family.

“Over the last five or six years we’ve been approached by a surprisingly large number of people to operate [A318 aircraft] from London to New York,” he says, but says only British Airways has turned the notion into a firm project.

The twin-jet’s cockpit is fitted with a ‘steep approach’ arming switch in the cockpit’s overhead panel, which configures the aircraft’s spoilers for the 5.5° City glideslope once other landing systems on the A318 are activated.

British Airways’ Airbus flight training manager Capt Simon Kinsey says the aircraft is due to undertake steep-approach testing at the Royal Air Force base at Lyneham in Wiltshire. Lyneham offers “better facilities”, says Kinsey, than the alternative options at Manston or RAF Brize Norton.

While the aircraft’s cabin interior is already complete, British Airways is keeping the precise details away from public gaze until the inaugural flight in late September.

Source: FlightGlobal.com

Korea National Police Agency Order An AW119Ke

AgustaWestland and UI International (UII) are pleased to announce they have been awarded a contract by the Korean Public Procurement Services to supply the Korea National Police Agency (KNPA) with one AW119Ke law enforcement helicopter as part of an on-going programme to modernise the Police helicopter fleet. This is the first AW119Ke to be purchased by the Korean Government and the third law enforcement helicopter sold into the Korean market. It will join two KNPA AW109 helicopters that have been in service for a number of years. The AW119 Koala enhanced is a spacious 8 seat single engine helicopter developed to enhance safety and provide high productivity and performance at a competitive price. The large unobstructed cabin permits rapid re-configuration for a variety of missions such as utility, passenger transport, emergency medical services and the very popular law enforcement role. The high power margins deliver outstanding performance that makes the AW119Ke the most cost effective helicopter in its class.

Source: Agusta Westland

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