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Developing eSAF from Power-to-Liquid Technology to Achieve Decarbonization

(CLERMONT FERRAND, FRANCE. NOVEMBER 2021.)
Two experts from Air bp discuss the current state of sustainable fuel use in the aviation industry as well as predictions for its future trajectory.

eSAF, a synthetic fuel derived from renewable energy sources, looks to be an increasingly important aspect of achieving the aviation industry’s decarbonization goals—along with using numerous other pathways to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Aircraft today can incorporate up to 50% eSAF along with conventional fuel, and eSAF can easily be used as a drop-in fuel.

In their Thought Leadership series published this week, Air bp features sustainability director Andreea Moyes, along with bp’s senior advisor for hydrogen and eFuels, Peter Nowobilski, in a discussion about SAF.

SAF is critical for decarbonization, and although it makes up just 1% of the supply of aviation fuel currently available on the market, its commercial use continues to increase worldwide. A report from the Air Transport Action Group about the challenge of decarbonizing the aviation industry stated: “By 2015, the first regular supply of SAF was being delivered to airports and since then a number of new production facilities have been in development or construction. Despite this progress, it is estimated that by 2025, only around 2% of total jet fuel use will be with sustainable aviation fuels.”

Moyes and Nowobilski make the point that the majority of the current SAF supply comes from limited quantities of feedstocks via a pathway of hydrotreated esters and fatty acids (also known as HEFA). Therefore, producing SAF to achieve the aviation industry’s low-carbon goals must use a variety of different pathways. One of these pathways is eSAF—the synthetic fuel that is created from renewable energy sources.

Electric-powered aircraft is currently limited to short-distance journeys in part because of the substantial weight of the batteries used. Current battery cell technology is also geared towards meeting the requirements of automotive applications rather than those of electric aircraft. eVTOLs require extremely fast charging capabilities and high-power cell discharging, which requires the development of battery technology to meet their unique needs.

To take advantage of renewable electricity in operating large aircraft and traveling long distances, the electricity generated from solar, hydro, and wind power has to be converted into a synthetic fuel such as hydrogen. To efficiently use hydrogen as aviation fuel, however, most commercial aircraft flying today would need to undergo a re-design, particularly to the propulsion system and fuel storage, because hydrogen is one-fourth as dense as traditional jet fuel.

“This is where eSAF derived from power-to-liquid (PtL) technology comes in,” write Moyes and Nowobilksi. “Renewable electricity is used to break water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen via an electrolysis process. Carbon dioxide captured from the air, or from biogenic or industrial sources, together with this hydrogen are then converted to carbon monoxide and water through the reverse water gas shift process.”

Additional hydrogen and carbon monoxide are transformed into a wax (a synthetic crude oil) through the use of Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis technology. This wax is then developed into eSAF or other types of fuel. “Legislation currently allows us to use FT technology to blend eSAF by up to 50% with conventional jet fuel. It can be easily stored, transported, and distributed using existing infrastructure,” according to the article.

“A simplified view of which kinds of energy options might be able to contribute to the reduction in CO2 emissions from air transport in which time period. This generally indicates when the technology may be commercially available, but not widespread use throughout the fleet.” (Credit: Air Transport Action Group)

The main barrier to scaling up SAF and eSAF production is cost. It can be eight times more expensive to produce than traditional jet fuel. Considering that eSAF will play a large role in the future of the aviation industry, it’s even more important to invest in developing sustainable fuels.

Moyes and Nowobilksi state, “The good news is there is already legislation in Europe that places the development of eSAF at the forefront of aviation’s sustainability agenda. Germany, for example, has agreed [on] a roadmap which will come into effect in 2026 for the development and use of eSAF for the aviation sector.”

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Northrop Grumman Reveals Mini-CNI System with JADC2 Capabilities for Vertical Lift Platforms

Northrop Grumman Corporation recently unveiled its Mini-Communications, Navigation, and Identification (CNI) system. It holds open architecture, in-flight connectivity capabilities for vertical lift platforms and will enable data as a strategic advantage for Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) operations.

Northrop Grumman recently demonstrated its Mini-Communications, Navigation, and Identification (CNI) system with open architecture and in-flight connectivity (IFC) capabilities for vertical lift platforms. The Mini CNI system is designed particularly to enable “data as a strategic advantage” for Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) operations and to help the U.S. Army achieve Multi-Domain Operations (MDO), according to Northrop.

JADC2 is a far-reaching plan developed by the Department of Defense (DoD) to bring in joint technologies—ranging from artificial intelligence to new advanced computing tools—to build a cross-service digital architecture for future multi-domain operations. Northrop believes its communications solutions division has created a new software-defined radio system that could link vertical lift aircraft to the broader multi-domain digital architecture that DoD leadership has envisioned for the overall JADC2 concept.

The Mini-CNI system is capable of “delivering current multi-level secure next-generation connectivity across domains. It is designed to [provide] resilient sensor-to-shooter links maintained through spectral awareness and frequency agility. This significantly improves data to decision timelines,” the company said in a Nov. 23 press release. “In addition, the autonomous fault detection and system reconfiguration reduces crew workload, enabling warfighters to focus on other critical JADC2 mission demands.”

The Mini-CNI system is also being capable of hosting several CNI capabilities. The plan for the following year is to add new capabilities such as new Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) functions as well as “integration of advanced low probability of intercept/low probability of denial communications.” The team at Northrop Grumman aims to enable support of interconnected mission demands to create a fully integrated JADC2 network.

Northrop Grumman’s Jenna Paukstis, Vice President, Communications Solutions, stated in an emailed Q&A with Avionics International that the Mini-CNI system “is designed to be platform agnostic. It is intended to support vertical lift platforms as well as fixed-wing platforms. In addition, the system has the ability to be integrated into a wide range of air, ground, and maritime platforms.”

“Northrop Grumman’s Mini-CNI offering is designed to deliver multiple networked advantages for today’s warfighters, enabling data as a strategic advantage in JADC2 operations.”

The recently completed system demonstration involved an in-the-air test on a vertical lift platform; the Mini-CNI system communicated successfully and continuously throughout the entire flight test. Paukstis explained in further detail how the system works: “Our Mini-CNI is a software-defined, multi-band, multi-waveform, multi-function radio system that simultaneously supports a variety of communications and advanced networking operations. Platform integration will use standard aircraft interfaces.”

Looking forward, Paukstis anticipates that the system will be fully certified by the U.S. government within two years.

The post Northrop Grumman Reveals Mini-CNI System with JADC2 Capabilities for Vertical Lift Platforms appeared first on Aviation Today.

New FAA Policy Limits Use of Automatic Landing, RNP at Airports Vulnerable to 5G Interference

The FAA has issued two new airworthiness directives requiring changes to the limitations sections of fixed and rotary wing flight manuals regarding the vulnerability of radar altimeters to 5G C-Band wireless networks. Earlier this year, FreeFlight Systems unveiled a new line of radar altimeters, including the RA-5500 pictured here, that are designed to resist 5G interference. (FreeFlight Systems)

Pilots of some fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft will be prohibited from using certain types of landing procedures such as automatic landing and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) at airports where the presence of 5G C-Band stations could cause interference to their radio altimeter—also known as radar—performance, new airworthiness directives (AD) issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday.

The decision to publish the two ADs comes following several months of concern expressed by the FAA and advocacy groups representing every segment of the aviation industry over the deployment of 5G C-Band networks being rolled out by AT&T, Verizon, and several other cellular and wireless service providers. In November, AT&T and Verizon were among the wireless providers indicating that they planned to delay the debut of their new networks from Dec. 5 to Jan. 5, 2022, to address FAA concerns expressed by the agency in a Nov. 2 special airworthiness information bulletin.

Now, with 5G wireless broadband deployment scheduled to begin in 46 different U.S. markets next month, the FAA issued a new AD outlining specific landing and approach procedures prohibited at specific airports that are still being identified based on the coming 5G rollout.

“The FAA believes the expansion of 5G and aviation will safely co-exist. Today, we took an important step toward that goal by issuing two airworthiness directives to provide a framework and to gather more information to avoid potential effects on aviation safety equipment,” the agency said in a Dec. 7 statement.

Two ADs were published by the agency to address specific changes needed to the limitation sections of transport category fixed-wing airplane/aircraft flight manuals (AFM), and separately for rotorcraft flight manuals (RFM). AD 2021-23-12 identified the following operations requiring radio altimeters as being prohibited while operating in U.S. airspace in the presence of 5G C-band wireless broadband at airports that are still being identified:

Instrument Landing System (ILS) Instrument Approach Procedures (IAP) SA CAT I, SA CAT II, CAT II, and CAT III
Required Navigation Performance (RNP) Procedures with Authorization Required (AR), RNP AR IAP
Automatic Landing operations
Manual Flight Control Guidance System operations to landing/head-up display (HUD) to touchdown operation
Use of Enhanced Flight Vision System (EFVS) to touchdown under 14 CFR 91.176(a)

The agency plans on naming the identified airports in upcoming Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs). Separately, operations determined to be prohibited for rotorcraft operators equipped with radio altimeters were identified by AD 2021-23-13, and include the following:

Performing approaches that require radio altimeter minimums for rotorcraft offshore operations. Barometric minimums must be used for these operations instead.
Engaging hover autopilot modes that require radio altimeter data.
Engaging Search and Rescue (SAR) autopilot modes that require radio altimeter data.
Performing takeoffs and landings in accordance with any procedure (Category A, Category B, or by Performance Class in the Rotorcraft Flight Manual or Operations Specification) that requires the use of radio altimeter data.

In the two directives, the FAA states that its urgency in issuing the directives is based on a study published by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) in October 2020 on the possible impacts of 5G interference with commercial aviation. However, aviation companies have been warning the FAA about the danger posed by 5G transmissions occurring in the 3.7–3.98 GHz frequency range since at least 2017 per a Nov. 18 letter by aviation companies and interest groups to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The modern standard for commercial and civil aircraft is the frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar altimeter. Based on the RTCA study and analyses submitted by radio altimeter manufacturers, the FAA ultimately determined that “at this time, no information has been presented that shows radio altimeters are not susceptible to interference caused by C-Band emissions permitted in the United States.”

The AD also acknowledges C-Band wireless broadband network deployment that has already occurred in some other countries where “temporary technical, regulatory, and operational mitigations on C-Band systems have been implemented while aviation authorities complete their safety assessments.”

FAA officials determined that the two ADs affect 6,834 airplanes and 1,828 helicopters registered to operate in the U.S. Changes outlined by the directives are estimated to cost $85 per aircraft/helicopter. The revisions are required to occur on or before Jan. 4, 2022.

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Archer Receives Special Airworthiness Certificate from FAA to Begin Flight Testing

Archer’s Maker aircraft is on track to start flight tests by the end of 2021 after having received its Special Airworthiness Certificate from the FAA.
Archer has also achieved its MIDO Certificate of Authorization (COA) and Aircraft Limitations, as well as its signed and approved FAA G-1 Issue Paper: Certification Basis (“G-1 Certification Basis”).

Archer Aviation announced last week that the FAA has presented them with their Special Airworthiness Certificate. This certification comes just a few weeks after the company received its Certificate of Authorization (COA) and Aircraft Limitations and is on track to begin flight testing of its Maker aircraft by the end of the year.

Additionally, Archer hit another significant benchmark this year when the company received its signed and approved FAA G-1 Issue Paper: Certification Basis (“G-1 Certification Basis”).

Receipt of the Special Airworthiness Certificate authorizes off-ground operations once an aircraft has met all FAA safety requirements. Achieving this milestone was key for enabling Archer to continue its mission to launch commercial electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) flights in 2024 in its launch partner cities, Los Angeles and Miami. The company is in talks with other cities in the U.S. for expanding its urban air mobility platform.

A representative from Archer said, in an email Q&A with Avionics International, “In the coming year, we plan to continue our robust flight testing program while working closely with the FAA on subsequent certification milestones. Maker’s first hover test flight will mark the beginning of the next chapter in our advance toward bringing commercial eVTOL travel to the world, and we’re excited to build on the past year’s progress in 2022.”

Archer is one of only a few companies making eVTOLs that have fulfilled the FAA’s certification requirements in order to begin flight testing. Another unique aspect of the company is its focus on addressing urban congestion and pollution through intra-city eVTOL transportation; many other similar enterprises work towards regional and long-haul travel.

According to Archer, they have decided to focus on transforming urban mobility in highly-populated cities because the company believes that ”eVTOL transportation represents a revolutionary solution to a problem that affects millions of people every day and is only growing worse.”

With the demonstrator aircraft, Maker, and upcoming production aircraft, the company intends to deliver significant time savings for business and leisure travelers through an emphasis on safety and efficiency in urban environments. For example, the Maker aircraft will be able to travel up to 10 times faster than a car, over a maximum distance of 60 miles. It has net-zero carbon emissions, and the company claims that its finished product will be 100 times quieter than helicopters.

Key objectives in Archer’s long-term strategy for its eVTOL network, according to the company’s representative, include:

Help curb carbon emissions.
Decrease traffic and ground congestion in cities.
Create a fully renewable transportation solution.
Build out eVTOL fleets in Los Angeles and Miami to support a variety of transportation needs.
Promote healthier communities through public and private sector collaboration.

The post Archer Receives Special Airworthiness Certificate from FAA to Begin Flight Testing appeared first on Aviation Today.

Thales Acquires Moog’s Navigation Aids Business

With the Moog navigation aids business, Thales extends its navigation aid offerings and accesses additional “man-portable” technology, further supporting customers’ contingency air operations and evolving mobility needs. (Thales)

Thales on Monday closed its acquisition of a Moog business unit that designs, develops and manufactures ground and ship-based radio frequency navigation beacons and related antennas for commercial and military aircraft operators.

Terms of the deal, which was first announced in June, were not disclosed. The Moog Navigation Aids business is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has about 50 employees.

The acquisition complements Thales’ existing navigation aids and air traffic management business and provides additional man-portable technology, bolstering support for its customers’ demand for contingency and mobility needs. Thales’ customers for these systems and technologies include the Federal Aviation Administration, the Defense Department, and airports and air navigation service providers worldwide.

“The navigation infrastructure in North America is in urgent need of modernization with thousands of ground-based navigation aids operating well beyond their design life,” Todd Donovan, vice president for Thales Air Traffic Management, Americas, said in a statement. “Additionally, the DoD’s doctrine is pushing for increased mobility and ability to operate more effectively in austere environments. The acquisition of Moog’s navigation business enhances our ability to address these customer needs.”

Moog sells its navigation aids to the Navy, Marine Corps and global air navigation service providers and military forces.

The acquisition also expands the U.S. presence of Thales, which is based in Toulouse, France.

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Airflow Partners with Pipistrel for Proof-of-Concept Electric-Propulsion Aircraft

Aircraft designer and manufacturer Pipistrel partners with Airflow, maker of eSTOL aircraft, to supply motors, motor controllers, and batteries necessary for its Distributed Electric Propulsion in its proof-of-concept demonstrator aircraft.

Airflow, electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft company, recently announced a partnership with Pipistrel, aircraft designer and manufacturer of the world’s first and currently the only type-certified electric airplane. In this partnership, Pipistrel will supply the motors, motor controllers, and batteries for Airflow’s proof-of-concept aircraft with Distributed Electric Propulsion.

Marc Ausman, CEO and co-founder of Airflow, explained in an interview with Avionics International that this proof-of-concept project will involve modifying an existing fixed-wing aircraft design with the latest technology. “The advantage is that we can do it very quickly and very inexpensively. That will help inform the production and design of the aircraft.”

Ausman also shared that Airflow is “focused on building an aircraft that has value to commercial operators today as opposed to focusing on building a specific technology that has very limited commercial use. Customer requirements for the regional air mobility market are very important.”

The partnership with Pipistrel will take advantage of the supplier’s integrated system of motors and batteries. For the technology demonstrator aircraft, Pipistrel’s technology was a perfect fit not only because of their products available but also because of the maturity of their technology.

“We were looking for a supplier that had the complete end-to-end system already integrated together. [Pipistrel’s products] have already been tested to work together; they’ve been engineered to work together. Pipistrel is essentially the systems integrator. That’s work we don’t have to do for the proof-of-concept aircraft,” remarked Ausman.

Pipistrel will supply motors, motor controllers, and batteries for Airflow’s proof-of-concept aircraft. AirFlow)

The development of an aircraft for the regional air mobility market, to fly both people and cargo, is a primary focus for Airflow. The company hopes to accomplish these three goals:

Reduce the price of a regional flight ticket by 70%
Produce aircraft that operate quietly to avoid disturbing local communities
Ensure that the process is done sustainably

“Every year in the U.S. alone, according to the DoT, there are over 2 billion trips that are driven every year in this 50-500 mile segment, and our goal is to move those people from driving to the air to reduce congestion, to move them to a sustainable form of transportation,” Ausman said. “There are close to 5,000 small, underutilized airports in the U.S. Using the existing infrastructure in the U.S. and around the world is a huge opportunity for sustainably integrating new aircraft.”

While electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles will serve urban areas for low-altitude flights less than 50 miles, Ausman wants Airflow to bring electric propulsion to the regional air mobility market for 50-to-500-mile flights with their next-generation eSTOL aircraft. “We can offer an aircraft that is technically simpler, has less regulatory risk, and is less costly to operate than an eVTOL aircraft. eSTOL represents a new generation of aircraft and manufacturers bringing in new thinking to the market, and new technology to the market,” he said.

Separately from the one-off demonstrator aircraft project, Airflow is developing the production aircraft with an entirely different set of considerations. Ausman explained, “The process has to meet very stringent requirements for our customers that will use them commercially. That aircraft is planned for FAA certification in 2025.” Initial design work is in progress, and the next step is building multiple iterations of prototypes.

The company has already announced $600M in orders from customers around the world, indicating that aircraft operators are interested in the solutions Airflow has to offer the commercial market. Airflow also recently partnered with another company, Honeywell International, to continue pushing the development of eSTOL aircraft. The partnership will explore integration of Honeywell’s IntuVue RDR-84K radar system onto Airflow’s aircraft. According to Ausman, the systems are roughly the size of a book and can be placed in multiple spots on the aircraft to provide a 360-degree view of traffic around the vehicle and ensure a higher degree of safety. This integration could serve as a basis for a detect-and-avoid system for future autonomous aircraft.

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Frontier Airlines Makes AFIRS Investment for Airbus A320neo Fleet

Frontier Airlines is adding the AFIRS system from FLYHT to its growing fleet of A320neo aircraft. (Frontier Airlines)

Frontier Airlines is adding FLYHT’s Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRS) to the Airbus A320 and A321 that it currently has on order, a move that will allow the Denver, Colorado-based low-cost carrier to use both of those aircraft types on routes that fly over water.

The addition of AFIRS to its A320neo aircraft comes for Frontier following the carrier’s recent adoption of the Skywise health monitoring technology for the same fleet. Frontier currently has 112 aircraft that are operational. Of their 234 new aircraft on order, 76 are A320neo aircraft and 158 are A321neo aircraft. Eighteen of the A320neo aircraft include conversion rights to A321XLR aircraft.

FLYHT has confirmed that the initial order received from Frontier is valued at $680,000.

Ben Dwyer, director of flight operations standards and quality assurance at Frontier, said the airline selected FLYHT “after an extensive search of all available solutions in the marketplace.”

“Frontier’s partnership with FLYHT is another key step in our effort to reduce our carbon footprint by decreasing fuel consumption and further our position as America’s Greenest Airline. The real-time aircraft data that comes from FLYHT’s AFIRS family of products will also enhance communications with our flight crews as well as the customer experience by reducing flying time,” Dwyer said.

The AFIRS 228 system is an Iridium-based satellite communications device that features a built-in quick access recorder, allowing it to both enable Iridium voice and data services while also providing aircraft health monitoring and ACARS over Iridium among other capabilities. FLYHT provides two different versions of the AFIRS 228, including a basic 228B version and a more advanced 228S version capable of supporting ACARS over Iridium.

Frontier’s selection of AFIRS comes following the announcement by FLYHT that it was also selected as factory-installed equipment for the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd.’s (COMAC) C919 to provide communications during the cold weather certification campaign the aircraft is currently undergoing in Canada.

“The addition of Frontier, a well-regarded airline, to our family of customers expands our client roster to more than 85 airlines globally. The operations at Frontier are an area in which we have a lot of experience, and the entrepreneurial nature of Frontier fits well with FLYHT’s agile problem-solving culture for both airborne hardware and day of operations intelligence systems,” Derek Taylor, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at FLYHT, said in a statement. “We look forward to expanding our service offerings with Frontier and are thrilled to have a customer in the hometown of our U.S. office in Littleton, Colorado.”

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OneWeb and GDC to Develop LEO In-Flight Connectivity Terminal for Commercial Aircraft

Tracy Trent, President GDC Advanced Technology, and Ben Griffin, VP Mobility, OneWeb, were at the 2021 Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) conference in California for the announcement of the development of their new LEO in-flight connectivity terminal.

London-based Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation operator OneWeb has partnered with GDC Technics’ California-based aviation engineering and technical services provider GDC Advanced Technology to create a new In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) terminal that will enable airlines to connect their aircraft to OneWeb’s LEO network, according to a joint development agreement announced by the two companies last week.

Based on electronically steered antenna (ESA) technology developed by Ball Aerospace, the terminal has already undergone early lab and ground testing at GDC’s facilities in Fort Worth Texas. Under the agreement, the two companies will develop a terminal that will initially be available in two sizes: a traditional ARINC 791 for larger commercial airliners and a smaller installation for regional and business jets.

GDC describes the design of the terminal as consisting of an antenna with no moving parts and a total of four line replaceable units (LRUs).

“The LRUs consist of the transmit antenna array, the receive antenna array, the MODMAN and a power source. GDC designs and manufactures the arrays. Included are Ball’s Ku sub arrays. The Ball technology was developed for military applications and has been in service for several years,” Stephen Rice, Vice President of GDC Technics, told Avionics International in an emailed statement.

The design of the terminal is configured so that each array is fully sealed and requires no active cooling or radome. Rice said GDC does not anticipate any changes to the design, but will evaluate it once the flight testing phase of the development program begins.

Airlines will be able to use the terminals for both LEO and Geostationary Orbit (GEO) satellite connectivity on their aircraft.

“The antenna will be sized and powered to be capable of closing links with GEO networks. It is an actual full definition ESA. The MODMAN will manage the switch between networks using multiple modems as required,” Rice said.

The joint development agreement between the two companies comes following 18 months of research completed in partnership with “one of the industry’s leading airlines,” according to OneWeb. Several other unnamed satellite operators were also involved in the research, which will culminate in the eventual rollout of a terminal capable of connecting to OneWeb’s full LEO constellation.

In an emailed statement to Avionics, OneWeb confirmed the current status of the rollout of its LEO satellite network includes the launch of 358 satellites—more than 50% of the full constellation—orbiting at 1,200 kilometers above the Earth.

“The full constellation will comprise of 648 satellites – with the full network scheduled for completion mid-2022 – with global coverage from the end of 2022. Aviation services will be online from mid-2023, in line with the expected certification of the aviation terminals,” Nick Maynard, director of marketing for OneWeb, said.

Maynard said OneWeb has held introductory meetings with several airlines in different regions of the world and will become the “first LEO operator to offer global service to aviation customers.”

The OneWeb-GDC agreement includes development of supplemental type certificates (STCs) for several aircraft types with “major airframe manufacturers (OEMs),” according to OneWeb. Initial flight testing of the new terminal is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of next year on a Boeing 777.

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China Issues Airworthiness Directive for Boeing 737 MAX System and Manual Changes

China’s civil aviation regulator has issued an airworthiness directive outlining changes required to the Boeing 737 MAX that will eventually allow airlines operating the aircraft to resume its service in Chinese airspace, including the Xiamen Airlines 737 MAX pictured here. (Boeing/PR Newswire)

China’s civil aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), on Thursday issued its final airworthiness directive (AD) outlining the flight manual and hardware and software changes required for lifting its ban on the Boeing 737 MAX.

CAAC’s AD comes 33 months after the agency became the first international aviation regulator to ground the 737 MAX in March 2019 following two fatal crashes of the aircraft type involving Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines. While the directive includes display software updates and wiring changes required as corrective actions to the MAX’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System’s (MCAS) function that was ultimately found to have lead to the two crashes, it does not provide the final lifting of the ban on the aircraft necessary for it to resume flying passenger-carrying flights in Chinese airspace again.

“CAAC completed review of the actions proposed by Boeing, including Flight Control Software design change, MAX Display Software design change, Aircraft Flight Manual revision, Horizontal Stabilizer Trim Wire Bundle Routing Change, etc. After conducting sufficient assessment, CAAC considers the corrective actions are adequate to address this unsafe condition,” the agency notes in the AD.

Changes outlined by CAAC are identical to what the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) outlined in the AD it issued clearing the MAX for a return to service in U.S. airspace last year. The agency is requiring 737 MAX operators to install and verify the flight control computer software updates to both MAX flight control computers and provides details on operational changes and fault messages operators should be aware of as they integrate the required changes into their aircraft.

The AD issued by CAAC is 14 pages long; check out the full version at this link.

In a statement published by the South China Morning Post on Friday, Yang Zhenmei, director general of the Department of Airworthiness at the CAAC, said that the 737 MAX “is expected to resume domestic commercial operations by the end of this year or the beginning of next year for existing fleet and also resume the introduction of new aircraft.”

During a quarterly earnings call held in October, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun told analysts that flight testing for the 737 MAX return to service in China was completed in the third quarter, and he continues to anticipate final CAAC approval by the end of the year. Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West estimates that a third of the approximately 370 MAX aircraft still in inventory that have not yet been delivered are for operators based in China.

“The CAAC’s decision is an important milestone toward safely returning the 737 MAX to service in China,” Boeing said in a statement following CAAC’s publishing of the AD. “Boeing continues to work with regulators and our customers to return the airplane to service worldwide.”

The post China Issues Airworthiness Directive for Boeing 737 MAX System and Manual Changes appeared first on Aviation Today.

Former Bombardier President Sees Promising Future in Autonomous Aircraft in New Role with Xwing

Fred Cromer, former president of Bombardier’s commercial aircraft division, has taken on a new role as chief financial officer of Xwing. (Xwing)

Fred Cromer, former president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, has worked in several challenging roles across different segments of aviation and will be taking on another exciting challenge in his new role as chief financial officer (CFO) of Xwing, the California-based startup developing a new software capable of enabling autonomous gate-to-gate flight on commercial cargo aircraft.

During a recent interview with Avionics International, Cromer said that the company’s focus on cargo-carrying aircraft could make its entry point into actual commercial flight operations a reality faster than if they were focusing on passenger-carrying jets. Xwing’s Nov. 18 announcement of the addition to Cromer to their executive team cites a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report that estimates global e-commerce sales jumped to $26.7 trillion, driving the need for increased air cargo operations.

Cromer and the rest of the Xwing team believe that the autonomous software stack they’re developing could be ready for retrofitting to cargo carrying aircraft in the near future—although they have not committed to a timeline for achieving supplemental type certification (STC) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) yet.

“The more that I learned about what Xwing was doing, particularly in autonomous flight and developing software to make that a reality for existing aircraft, I thought that was a really interesting strategic path that is different than what others might be doing out there. And then particularly in the regional cargo business where that could provide potentially a faster path to certification. I thought it was a great, a very pragmatic approach to introducing this kind of advanced technology, and jumped at the opportunity to join their team,” Cromer said.

Xwing’s software stack and mission control center completed what the company claims is the world’s first fully autonomous gate-to-gate flight of a commercial cargo aircraft, a Cessna Grand Caravan 208B, during a February 2021 flight remotely controlled from their mission control center in Concord, California. In order to enable autonomous flight on existing aircraft, Xwing is developing an automated flight control system to control all flight control surfaces including the aileron, elevator, rudder, flaps, nose wheel, differential brakes, and flaps. The company’s complete system also includes a perception software stack to provide obstacle detection and avoidance that can be coupled with the flight control system.

Along with his most recent role at Bombardier, Cromer’s experience in the aviation industry includes other experience serving as the president of International Lease Finance Corporation and as CFRO of regional carriers ExpressJet Holdings and Continental Express.

His appointment as Xwing’s new CFO arrives on the heels of the company’s addition of Jesse Kallman as Vice President of Commercialization and Strategy and addition of key advisors, comprising of Greg Hall, former CEO of Global Air Operations at FedEx; Jeff Martin, former COO at WestAir; and Allan McArtor, Chairman and CEO of Airbus Americas.

Xwing has been testing its modified Cessna Grand Caravan pictured here at its facility in California, in preparation for eventually seeking an FAA STC to retrofit their autonomous software stack to commercial cargo aircraft. (Xwing)

This year, the company has also announced a $40 million funding round and a $400 million valuation. In October, Xwing also established a key supplier partnership with Inmarsat, the U.K.-based satellite operator that will be providing its Velaris unmanned aircraft terminal to enable connectivity as part of the overall Xwing autonomous flight retrofit package.

The company that manufactures the Cessna Grand Caravan that Xwing has been testing its autonomous software on, Textron, also has become a development partner under a non-disclosure agreement announced Oct. 12. The agreement does not specify how Textron and Xwing might jointly market converted and new-build autonomous aircraft; however, Xwing has acknowledged that the partners are discussing next steps.

“We’re seeing the cargo industry going through a phase of explosive growth. How will the existing players in this sector keep up with demand going forward? One of the constraints is being able to find and hire qualified pilots. So this autonomous path actually is a way to do some amazing things in terms of being able to get better efficiency and better productivity out of the aircraft and removing a potential constraint of growth in the future,” Cromer said. “So it is sort of an evolution that’s been coming. Many people in the aviation industry have been thinking about this for quite some time. If you think about it, the more modern commercial aircraft that are produced today, they’re almost 95% automated in the existing technology that they feature. Taking that one step further to make it completely autonomous really just opens up new opportunities.”

Xwing’s current research and development focus centers around operating a converted Caravan under an experimental certificate with a supervising pilot on board. In addition, it has commercial operations with Caravans through its Part 135 subsidiary San Antonio Air Charter. It has applied to the FAA for clearance to fly its experimental aircraft commercially with a ground-based pilot and safety pilot on board, and this approval is still in process.

Cromer said his initial focus will be on helping Xwing acquire additional capital and investment to support the continued development of their autonomous software stack.

“The financial needs of the company will continue to evolve as we continue to develop and refine our technology. We will need additional capital for our efforts and expansion. Staying ahead of that with a little bit more development of our financial models as we go forward will be a good tool with us to make sure that that we’re funding our needs in a timely basis,” Cromer said. “The investor interest is there; now it’s about taking some of that investor enthusiasm for were we’re going as a company and bringing that financial function along so that we enable growth. That’s key for a company like Xwing and the stage that we’re in at the moment.”

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