AIR International 2016-04

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
//-->MALAYSIA’S A400M•BOEING’S NEW JETS•SAAB’S SWORDFISHAir LOline TsChallengesAPRIL 2016Vol.90 No.4£4.80For the best in modern military and commercial aviationINTERNATIONALStill Cruising?JumboGulfstream G500Soaring through flight testSea King HC4 IcelandairRetired with honoursThe North Atlantic Nichewww.airinternational.comINTERNATIONALChanges&Top Stories06Development achievements on keyBoeing commercial aircraft programmes.New maritime patrol aircraft plat-forms have been launched by Saab.MILESTONES20Key regional debuts in Singaporeby the latest transport aircraft.The trend of special mission busi-ness jets in Asia-Paci c.A progress report on Russia’slargest helicopter manufacturer, Kazan.TRANSPORTS TAKE A BOW3036FREEDwhen yVD!ou takeBRIGHTFUTURE08SWORDFISH24BIZ-JET ISREmbraer sees apositive outlook forcommercial and executivejets in Asia.outdirect debit sub a 2-year orscriptoAIR Internatiotionnal.See pages 3for deta8 and 39ils.16VIPER FOR ARH?Bell and BAE team up for the Aus-tralian Tiger replacement.26TURBULENCEViking Air is working on a newseaplane version of the Twin Otterutility aircraft.400S SEAPLANEFRONT COVER: This month we explorethe gradual demise of the Boeing 747-400.Mathieu Pouilot/AirTeamImagesBOTTOM LEFT INSET: Gulfstream AerospaceMIDDLE INSET: Ian HardingRIGHT INSET: Steve Flint/AirTeamImages4066A LOT HAPPENING88AROUND THE ISLANDS72LA MANCHASCOOTING AHEAD96GULFSTREAM FLIGHT TEST76E2 ROLLOUT9882EXPEDITIONARY OPSA pivotal time for LOT Polish Airlines.A visit to Albacete Air Base, Spain.Behind the scenes on G500 testing.Another key F-35B deployment.Editor’s SecretaryMelissa Smithmelissa.smith@keypublishing.comDistribution by Seymour DistributionLtd• T. +44 (0)020 7429 4000 •Printed in England by WarnersMidlands PLC.Please refer to main SubscriptionsAdvert within the magazine or contact:Subcriptions & Mail Order,P.O Box300, Stamford, Lincs PE9 1NA UKT+44 (0)1780 480404F+44 (0)1780 757812Email Subscriptions:subs@keypublishing.comThe entire contents of AIRInternational is © copyright, andno part of it may be reproduced inany form or stored on any form ofretrieval system without the priorpermission of the publisher. All itemssubmitted for publication are subjectto our terms and conditions, whichare regularly updated without priornotice and are freely available fromKey Publishing Ltd or downloadablefromwww.keypublishing.comEmail Mail Order:orders@keypublishing.comOr order online at:www.keypublishing.comReaders in USAmay placesubscriptions by telephone toll-free800-676-4049. Air International isdistributed in the USA by Mail RightInt., 1637 Stelton Road B4,Piscataway, NJ 08854. PeriodicalsPostage Paid at Piscataway, NJand additional mailing officesPostmastersendaddress correctionsto: AIR Internation-al, Key PublishingLtd, C/o Mail RightInternational Inc.1637 Stelton RoadB4, Piscataway NJ08854Features40A LONG FAREWELL44FIGHTER SCHOOL52THE NORTH ATLANTIC NICHE56THE MAGNIFICENT SEVENBoeing 747 phase-outs continue.The 944th Fighter Wing.A look at Icelandair’s success.The Sea King HC4’s retirement.EditorMark Aytonairint@keypublishing.comDesignerDave RobinsonProduction ManagerJanet WatkinsAd ProductionDanielle TempestGroup Marketing ManagerMartin SteeleMarketing ManagerShaun BinningtonCommercial DirectorAnn SaundryManaging Director & PublisherAdrian CoxExecutive ChairmanRichard CoxA look at ET 0/50 ‘Réunion’ in theIndian Ocean.An interview with the boss of all-787 operator Scoot.Kevin WillsThe roll-out of the rst EmbraerE-Jet E2.Deputy EditorMark Broadbentairnews@keypublishing.comAdvertisement ManagerIan Maxwellian.maxwell@keypublishing.com• ISSN 0306-5634 •is published monthly by:Key Publishing Ltd,PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincs,PE9 1XQ, UKT+44 (0)1780 755131F+44 (0)1780 757261We are unable to guarantee the bonafides of any of our advertisers. Readers are strongly recommended to take their own precautions before parting with any informa-tion or item of value, including, but not limited to, money, manuscripts, photographs or personal information in response to any advertisements within this publication.3Leading StoriesNext Steps in NASA’s QueSSTAn AirbusA350-8000?An artist’s impression of a possible Low Boom Flight Demonstration Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) design.NASANASA has awarded a contract toLockheed Martin for the preliminarydesignforQuietSupersonicTechnology (QueSST) as part of theagency’s New Aviation Horizonsinitiative, introduced in its FiY 2017budget.Lockheed Martin will receive about$20 million over 17 months for theQueSST preliminary design. Thework will involve the development ofbaseline aircraft requirements anda preliminary aircraft design withspecifications, and the provisionof supporting documentation forconcept formulation and planning.Lockheed Martin was selected afterNASA’s Commercial SupersonicTechnology Project asked industryteams to submit design conceptsfor a piloted test aircraft that can flyat supersonic speeds, creating asupersonic ‘heartbeat’, which theagency defines as, “a soft thumprather than the disruptive boom”.The detailed design and building ofthe QueSST aircraft, to which thepreliminary design will contribute,will be conducted under the NASAAeronauticsResearchMissionDirectorate’sIntegratedAviationSystems Program. NASA says theaircraft would be about half the scaleof a production aircraft and is likely tobe piloted. The aircraft starts its flightcampaign around 2020, dependingon funding. The ten-year NewAviation Horizons initiative intends toreduce fuel use, emissions and noisethrough developing innovations inaircraft design that depart from theconventional and-wing shape.Airbus is reportedly marketing anew version of the A350 XWB toairlines. The prospective aircraft,provisionally called the A350-8000, would be designed tocompete in the 400-seat segmentof the passenger aircraft marketwith the forthcoming Boeing777-9, which will seat 406passengers.Reuters quoted Airbus ChiefOperating Officer CustomersJohn Leahy saying on the sidelines of the ISTAT Americasconference that the aircraft,“would have similar capacityand range [as the 777-9] andsubstantiallylowerseat-milecosts”, and that, “we are showingit to airlines right now”.The reports said the prospectiveA350-8000wouldhaveamaximumtake-offweightof319,000kg/703,000lb (up from theA350-1000’s 308,000kg/681,000lb)to cater for the capacity andperformance increases, and a higher-power derivative of the A350-1000’sRolls-Royce Trent XWB-97. Airbusis expected to provide more detailsabout its intentions in the 400-seatsegment of the widebody marketat July’s Farnborough InternationalAirshow. A prospective stretchedA350-1000, widely dubbed as theA350-1100, has been a prospect forsome time. The A350-1000 will seat366 passengers.Mark BroadbentTalon HateThe left image shows what appears to be a tactical terminal mounted atop the right side fuselage and the right image shows the pod fitted with an infraredsearch and track system carried on station 5.Both images Bruce SmithTwo Air Combat Command F-15CEagles, 82-0022 and 83-0026,assigned to the 422nd Test andEvaluation Squadron ‘Green Bats’based at Nellis Air Force Base,Nevada flew missions in a recentRed Flag exercise equippedwith the Talon HATE system.Two external components wereseen: a pod carried on station5, and what appears to bea tactical terminal mountedatop the right side fuselage.Developed by Boeing’s PhantomWorks’ Advanced Network &Space Systems, the Talon HATEsystem assimilates informationtransmitted over various data linkwaveforms in real time, to createa single common operatingpicture for aircraft, ships andground stations. The ability toreceive data transmitted over theF-22 Raptor’s intra-flight data linkand re-transmit that data in to abattle picture available on multipleconcurrentcommunicationswaveforms, particularly Link 16,is the system’s most evolutionaryaspect.The pod, designed to be carriedon station 5, is fitted with aninfrared search and track (IRST)system to provide the F-15C witha passive detection capability. Theforward form of the pods carriedby the Nellis-based F-15C Eaglesare similar, but not identical to theIRST system under developmentfor the F/A-18E and F/A-18FSuper Hornet with a seeker headfitted in the forward section. Theaft of the pod appears to show acooling scoop.4AI.04.16Please send all news correspondence to...airnews@keypublishing.comLeading StoriesBomb DroppingPilots assigned to the 34th and 466th Fighter Squadrons dropped inert 500lb GBU-12 laser-guided bombs from the F-35A Lightning II on the Utah Test andTraining Range during the last week of February. The squadrons are assigned to the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings respectively, the first units working up tocombat-coded status with the F-35A. The weapon drops were the first undertaken by an F-35A combat unit.Jim Haseltine/US Air ForceThe 25th M-346I Lavi produced by Alenia Aermacchi for the Israel Air and Space Forceat Venegono on March 2. The aircraft has new tail markings for 102 The Flying TigersSquadron based at Hatzerim Air Base. Monte Rosa, the second highest mountain in theAlps, can be seen in the background.Oscar BernardiIsraeli LaviEnd of Tu-204At this year’s Singapore air show,Vladislav Masalov, Vice President of theRussian United Aircraft Corporation,declared: “it could be worth consideringa freeze of the Tu-204SM,” with apossible “renewal in the future”. Suchconditional terms in reality mean theTu-204SM programme is dead.Masalov confirmed that the Tu-204SMhas yet to pass the certification tests.However, the most serious problemfaced by the programme is a completelack of orders. Tupolev declared 42contracts and 35 options, but all ofthem were declarations or ordersfrom airlines that subsequently wentbankrupt.Piotr ButowskiReaper Long Wing Maiden FlightGeneralAtomicsAeronauticalSystemsInc(GA-ASI)hasconducted the first flight of aPredator B/MQ-9 Reaper ExtendedRange (ER) Long Wing variant. Theflight took place on February 18at GA-ASI’s Gray Butte Flight TestFacility in Palmdale, California. Theaircraft has what GA-ASI describesas“improvedlong-endurancewings with greater internal fuelcapacity and additional hard pointsfor carrying external stores”. Ithas a 79ft (24m) wingspan, whichis 13ft (4m) longer than that ona standard Predator B. GA-ASIsays endurance will increase from27 hours to over 40 hours. Otherimprovements include short-fieldThe Predator B ER Long Wing flew fromGA-ASI’s Gray Butte Flight Test Facility inPalmdale, California. It is contributing to thecompany’s Certifiable Predator B project.General Atomics Aeronautical Systemstake-off and landing performance,spoilers on the wings for precisionautomatic landings, and provisionsfor leading-edge de-ice andintegrated low-band and high-band radio frequency antennas.GA-ASI says the long wings are thefirst components to be producedas part of GA-ASI’s CertifiablePredator B (CPB) developmentproject to create a next-generationproduction Predator B in early2018. Further hardware andsoftware upgrades planned for CPBwill include improved structuralfatigue and damage tolerance,new flight control software, andenhancements to allow operationsin poor weather.Mark BroadbentPlease send all news correspondence to...airnews@keypublishing.comAI.04.165 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]