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FLYCORPORATE B6<6O>C:
GREEN Issue
Business Aviation and the Environment
2 MAGAZINE
3
75 BELOW. 24-HOUR DARKNESS.
ONE ENGINE THAT COULD. It was a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27 freeturbine engine that powered the Twin Otter aircraft on a South Pole rescue mission the world wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t soon forget. Sean Louttit, captain and chief pilot at Kenn Borek Air, rescued a man who was in dire need of treatment after developing a life-threatening illness while stationed in the frozen wilderness. His life depended on his rescue. And his rescue depended on our engines.
WWW.PWC.CA/ENGINES-2
4 MAGAZINE
Contents 6 Masthead 8 Reference Index 10 Memo 12 In Brief 21 Ask an Expert A reader from Malaysia asks how
freelance pilots can establish a company in Europe and what insurances are required. FlyCorporate Europe explains.
22 Banking on Private Jets
Michael Buffham from Lloyds TSB Bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Corporate Asset Finance division discusses the fiscal value of aircraft ownership.
PW810 page 24
24
Pratt & Whitney Canada: Leading in Innovations and Green Solutions
Every two seconds, a Pratt & Whitney Canada powered aircraft takes off or lands somewhere in the world. So why is a company that is obviously making great products so concerned about the environment?
28 Flying Biomass?
What can manufacturers and suppliers do to balance the conflicting expectations of the environmental lobby, customers and regulators. We take a look at changes in materials, wingtips and fuel.
30 G650 Sets a Higher Standard
The ambitious numbers Gulfstream has set for the G650 include a projected maximum speed of Mach .925, which will make it the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fastest civilian jet.
G650 page 28 AW139 page 60
5
36 How Green is Your Offset Scheme? Flying from Europe to Orlando for NBAA means you will be personally responsible for producing several tons of CO2. Although many people are happy to pay to offset this, how do you know where your euros are going?
39 Green Trendsetters Robyn Boyle investigates what some of the most progressive business aviation companies are doing to reduce their carbon footprints.
48 Meet the Learjet 85 Find out what Brad Nolen, Product Planning Director for Bombardier Business Jets has to say about the company’s first all-composite business jet.
52 Clean Skies Ahead Over 100 organisations from 16 countries have signed on as members of Europe’s Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) for greener aviation. Taunya Renson-Martin reports.
62 Agusta’s AW139 FC checks out the performance and the environmental credentials of AgustaWestland’s AW139.
66 Recycling A New Approach What happens to an aircraft when it reaches the end of its service life? Olivier Constant looks at the lessons that can be learnt from the efforts of the commercial aviation sector to recycle and reuse aircraft and how they can be applied to business jets.
41 ETS Levy Bad News for BizAv
54 Composite or Metal: Which is Greener? 72 Will the Solar Impulse Change the FlyCorporate Europe compares the green credentials of alumini Future of Flight?
The EU has recently adopted Emissions Trading Scheme rules that will have major negative implications for the business aviation sector.
Jeff Apter explains the technology behind the Solar Impulse and how it might find its way into the business aircraft of the future.
44 Core Drivers New engine technologies are the key to corporate aviation’s success. Liz Moscrop reports.
um and carbon fibre, both contenders to the title of material of choice in aircraft construction.
58 Helicopters and the Environment Helicopter manufacturers and operators are under immense pressure to lower engine emissions and to reduce noise. Rod Simpson takes a closer look at recent developments.
76 Landings: Moscow Business aviation facilities and services in and around Moscow.
82 On the Horizon
6 MAGAZINE
FlyCorporate Europe Magazine www.fly-corporate.com
Taunya Renson-Martin Editorial and Publishing Director Taunya.Renson@fly-corporate.com
Dan Smith Managing Editor Dan.Smith@fly-corporate.com
Sybylla Wales Assistant Editor Sybylla.Wales@fly-corporate.com
Anke Ruysschaert Production Manager Anke.Ruysschaert@fly-corporate.com
Mike Vlieghe Graphic Designer Mike.Vlieghe@fly-corporate.com
Stijn Anseel Art Director
Lowie Ysebie Web Developer
FlyCorporate Senior Writers Jeff Apter Jack Carroll Tim Kern, CAM Liz Moscrop Rod Simpson Nicholas Goubert
FlyCorporate Contributors Michael Buffman Robyn Boyle Olivier Constant
.Mach Media www.machmedia.be
Luc Osselaer
Taunya Renson-Martin
Chairman
Managing Director
Jay Whitehead
Yannick Steyaert
Advisor, US Office
Financial Assistant
FlyCorporate Magazine is published by .Mach Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. BPA Worldwide Business Publication Audit Membership Applied for December 2007. Three issues will be published in 2009 and are free for subscribers at www.fly-corporate.com. Subscribers: If the postal services alert us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address. How to Reach Us Letters to the Editor must include writerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s full name, address and email coordinates, may be edited for purposes of clarity or space, and should be addressed to editor@fly-corporate.com or to: .Mach Media, Technologiepark 3, Zwijnaarde-Gent, B-9052, Belgium. Customer Service and Subscriptions: To receive our free FlyCorporate Magazine Europe, our weekly newsfeeds and/or our regular newsletter, please subscribe online at www.fly-corporate.com.
Please recycle this magazine when you are finished. Thank you.
7
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8 MAGAZINE
Reference Index Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association
EcoSecurities
London Executive Aviation
www.afraassociation.org
ecosecurities.com
www.flylea.com
AgustaWestland
European Aviation Safety Agency
Lufthansa
www.agustawestland.com
easa.europa.eu
www.lufthansa.com
Airbus
European Cockpit Association
myclimate
www.airbus.com
eurocockpit.be
myclimate.org
ASA Group Ltd
European Business Aviation Association
www.nasa.gov
www.asagroupltd.com
NASA
www.ebaa.org
Avinode www.avinode.com
NetJets Eclipse Aviation
www.netjets.com
www.eclipseaviation.com
Bartin Aero Recycling www.bartingroup.fr
Elite Jets
National Business Aviation Association
www.elite-jets.com
www.nbaa.org
Embraer Executive Jets
Pratt & Whitney Canada
www.embraerexecutivejets.com
www.pwc.ca
Bell Helicopters www.bellhelicopter.textron.com
Bizjet www.bizjet.ch
Eurocopter
Rockwell Collins
www.eurocopter.com
www.rockwellcollins.com
Boeing Business Jets www.boeing.com
Execujet
Rolls Royce
www.execujet.net
www.rolls-royce.com
Bombardier Aerospace www.bombardier.com
Flexjet
Shell
www.flexjet.com
www.shell.com
British Business and General Aviation Association
Flying Group
Sikorsky
www.bbga.aero
www.flyinggroup.aero
www.sikorsky.com
Carbon Footprint
GE Honda
Sino Swearingen
www.carbonfootprint.com
www.gehonda.com
www.swearingen.com
Cessna Aircraft Co.
Grob Aerospace
Snecma
www.cessna.com
www.grob-aerospace.net
www.snecma.com
Cirrus Design Corporation
Gulfstream
Spectrum Aeronautical
www.cirrusdesign.com
www.gulfstream.com
www.spectrum.aero
ClimateCare
Hawker Beechcraft Corporation
Solar Impulse
climatecare.org
www.hawkerbeechcraft.com
www.solarimpulse.com
CO2logic.
Honda Aircraft
VistaJet
www.co2logic.com
hondajet.honda.com
www.vistajet.com
Dassault Aviation
Honeywell
Verspieren
www.dassault-aviation.com
www.honeywell.com
aviation.verspieren.com
Dubai Airshow
Jet Aviation
Williams International
www.dubaiairshow.org
www.jetaviation.com
www.williams-int.com
Lloyds TSB Bank www.lloydstsb.com
9
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10 MAGAZINE
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How Green is Your Offset Scheme?
Sustainability – buzzword or business necessity? Hearing so much these days in Europe about the business of going green, being environmentally friendly, sustainable business processes, offsetting initiatives, one could possibly be forgiven for becoming anaesthetised by these important issues. Overexposure can be a deathtrap, and fear mongering only causes people to harbour a greater sense of helplessness. So this issue of FlyCorporate is not about what business aviation – the industry and its users – should do to contribute to protecting the environment and safeguarding the earth for future generations. Instead this issue highlights the many activities and initiatives that are already being taken by the business aviation community to ensure that sustainability and eco-thinking are not just passing trends but are truly embedded in the way the industry does business. In my discussions with people in the business aviation industry, two messages keep coming up again and again. The first is that, increasingly more business aircraft users are requiring that their aircraft or that the use of corporate aircraft meet stricter environmental standards. The second is that the business aviation industry’s biggest problem has not been embracing environmental initiatives; its biggest problem has been communicating that it has already embraced environmental initiatives.
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Aviation has become the devil incarnate for some
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page 36
So in this issue, FlyCorporate takes a 360° look at all stages of the business aircraft lifecycle to share what has been done, what will be done and what could be done to keep business aviation on the right side of the sustainability issue. We’ve covered aircraft design (Composite or Metal: Which is Greener?, p. 54), engine technologies (Pratt & Whitney Canada: Leading in Green Solutions, p. 24), the impact of the helicopter community (Helicopters and the Environment, p. 58),and take a deeper look at offsetting (How Green is your Offset Scheme, p. 36), What we present here is by no means exhaustive, so if you’ve got a story to share, email me at editor@fly-corporate.com. I’d love to hear from you.
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With current practices, only 80 to 85% of an aircraft can be recycled
Taunya Renson-Martin Editorial and Publishing Director page 66
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Offsetting is one way in which the industry can neutralise its footprint
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12 MAGAZINE
In Brief Jet Aviation Now Part of General Dynamics In August, Zurich-based Jet Aviation announced that it would change ownership. Dreamliner Lux S.a.r.l., a company controlled by the Permira Funds, and General Dynamics signed a sale and purchase agreement valued at CHF2.45 billion (€1.5 billion). Under the agreement, General Dynamics will acquire all shares of the Jet Aviation Group. Jet Aviation is a renowned international business aviation services company, operating from 25 airport facilities throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and North and South America. Services include maintenance, repair and overhaul, completions and refurbishments, engineering, and fixed base
Jet Aviation Basel
operations (FBO). The company also offers aircraft management, flight support and global executive-jet charter services, aircraft sales and acquisitions, and personnel services. General Dynamics, headquartered in Virginia, USA is active in business aviation, land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions, shipbuilding and marine systems, and information systems and technologies. “This is a very complementary fit,” Peter G. Edwards, CEO of the Jet Aviation Group, told FlyCorporate. “Jet Aviation will continue to grow bigger, stronger and better, while General Dynamics will be positioned to extend its business aviation operations into global flight support.”
Jet Aviation has benefitted from significant capital investment under the previous ownership of Permira Funds. That support drove organic growth and enabled the acquisitions of Midcoast Aviation and the Savannah Air Center. With new owner General Dynamics at the helm, the company will continue to operate in its current configuration with the same management team, and will, as Edwards states: “…extend the global reach of our current lines of business, further enhancing our long-standing relationships with all OEM’s, partners and customers.” The deal is subject to normal antitrust clearance and is expected to be closed by the end of 2008.
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Verspieren Crosses Borders to Manage Risks With business aviation expanding rapidly around the world, there is an increasing need for owners and operators to make certain their aircraft and crews are properly insured wherever they fly. Verspieren, a France-based provider of risk management solutions for business aviation, has informed FlyCorporate that it’s gearing up to meet this challenge with new product announcements expected before the end of the year. “We are a reference business aviation broker for Europe,
the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). And at a time when increasing globalisation cannot be ignored, we choose to accompany our clients in their growth and advise them on their aviation risk management,” says Florent Pernoud, Verspieren Aviation Director. Verspieren’s tailor-made services provide assistance in managing specific aeronautic risks. The company belongs to a global network of independent brokers, Assurex Global, affording it the opportunity to offer consistent levels of services and coverage throughout the world.
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EASA OPS and FCL RULES Seminar On 16 October the EBAA, in association with EBAA France, will hold a one-day seminar on the new European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) rules applying to aircraft operations in Europe. The seminar will take place at Paris Le Bourget and will provide operators with the opportunity to better understand the basis for the proposed Implementing Rules for licensing and operations and to discuss related issues.
EBAA members and other operators will be able to give feedback that will assist the EBAA in developing a comprehensive response to the Notice Proposed Amendments (NPAs) issued by EASA. The NPA for pilot licensing was released by EASA on 5 June 2008 while the NPA for the operations rules is expected in mid September. As this seminar probably marks the last opportunity to effect any change in the rules, the EBAA is strongly encouraging operators to attend.
The new EASA OPS rules will apply to all aircraft operations in Europe and will address: •
General operating and flight rules
•
Commercial Air Transport (CAT) with all categories of aircraft
•
Commercial operations other than CAT, with all categories of aircraft
•
Non-commercial operations with complex motor-powered aircraft
•
Operations requiring specific approvals.
www.
For more information, visit the EBAA website at www.ebaa.org
14 MAGAZINE
In Brief HBC Delivers Hawker 4000 In August Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) delivered a Hawker 4000 supermidsized business jet to customer Jack P. DeBoer during a special ceremony at the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s customer delivery centre in Wichita, Kansas. The Hawker 4000 is based on an innovative composite construction.
Aside from operating in the hospitality industry, DeBoer is an active pilot, currently holding the 3-kilometre world speed record for jet aircraft under 8,165 kg (18,000 lbs). DeBoer has previously purchased several Hawker Beechcraft Corporation aircraft, including the Hawker 1000, Hawker 800XP, Hawker 400XP and Beechcraft King Air B200 models.
VIP Aviation Security Provider Offers Specialist Advice
The ASA Group, an aviation security services provider with a base in Bangkok, Thailand, is warning business aviation travellers to be more cautious than usual during the current political unrest in the country. A state of emergency has been lifted as FC goes to press, however, ASA advises travellers to keep a close eye on the news before and during your travel to Thailand. The company also recommends that business travellers make plans for an alternative means of leaving Thailand in case the situation deteriorates. ASA also suggests you carry the contact details of a specialised security firm in case trouble flares up suddenly. For the latest travel advisory, FC recommends the website of the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The Travelling & Living Overseas section of the site is updated daily and includes information for most countries in the world. www.fco.gov.uk
Hawker 4000
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Consultancy Airplane management Shared ownership Business flights Charter flights Flying card Aircraft maintenance Consultancy Ground services Airplane management Shared ownership Business flights Charter flights Flying card C Aircraft maintenance Airplane m Ground services R Shared Busi Consultancy Cha Airplane management Shared ownership Aircraft m Business flights Grou Charter flights Antw Flying card Can Aircraft maintenance P Ground services Rotter
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Consultancy Airplane management Shared ownership Business flights Charter flights Flying card Aircraft maintenance Ground services
16 MAGAZINE
In Brief Learjet 85 Order from South America Synergy Aerospace Corp., based in Panama, has placed a firm order for a Learjet 85 aircraft. “This order reflects the growing excitement around our new Learjet 85 programme in Latin America and worldwide,” said Bombardier Business Aircraft’s Fabio Rebello, Regional Vice-President, Latin America, Sales. “The Learjet 85 jet is the latest example of how the evolving Learjet aircraft family is well-suited to respond to the changing needs of Latin American operators.”
Synergy Aerospace Corp. is the owner of OceanAir Táxi Aéreo Ltd in Brasil and PAS and Helicol in Colombia. The Learjet 85 aircraft will be operated by OceanAir’s charter service business unit and based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. “We want to offer our customers the best business aircraft possible and we believe the Learjet 85 aircraft will meet and even exceed their high standards,” said José Eduardo Brandão, Sales& Marketing Director for Ocean Air.
Elite Adds a G450 to Fleet UK-Elite Jets, based in Dubai has added a Gulfstream G450 to its existing executive aircraft fleet. The jet recently arrived direct from the manufacturer’s plant in the USA. It is the first and only G450 available for charter in Dubai. “I am extremely pleased with our new aircraft. Our clients will truly enjoy with great pleasure their travel experience on board this brand new G450,” said Ammar Balkar, Board Member, President and CEO of Elite Jets. “This G450 is
Correction: The story featuring the top 10 corporate helicopters in Europe on p. 48 of the Summer edition of FC failed to depict the correct image of the Bell 206L Longranger.
more than an aircraft; it’s a completely luxurious experience with its extra added facilities and superb amenities offering the ultimate in private jet travel.” The G450 can accommodate up to 14 passengers, and comes with upgraded engines, the latest avionics technology and aerodynamic enhancements. The long cabin has plenty of stand-up head room, allowing travellers to move about with ease, stretch out and relax or work in comfort.
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Noel Trout Avinode System Architect
Don’t worry. It all comes together online. At the world’s largest online marketplace for air charter professionals, we’ve put it all together. Trip pricing, aircraft availability and thousands of empty legs. Seamlessly linked with ARG/US safety data and leading fleet management systems. We’ve also got easy-to-use charter booking solutions for your own website. All in one place. Start at www.avinode.com.
18 MAGAZINE
ExecuJet Aviation Group to Expand Completions Activity ExecuJet Aviation Group is moving into larger types of executive jet. By the end of the year, the company is hoping to add Airbus ACJ and Boeing Business
Jets to its current, primarily Bombardier Business Jet portfolio. A brandnew customer showroom, located at the company’s headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland is scheduled to open the last quarter of 2008.
“The expansion of our interior and completions business is mirroring the growth of activity, not just from new build aircraft deliveries, but increasingly in response to rejuvenated interest to create new looks for pre-owned aircraft,” said Pascal Jallier, Head of Completions at ExecuJet Aviation Group. Australia and Asia Pacific are big growth regions, as is the Middle East, especially for mid-sized cabin business jets. Russia is another strong market accounting for 40% of ExecuJet’s activity right now. “Customers are becoming more savvy about what they want to offer their passengers in-flight. Satcom connectivity and the ability to offer world news and sports results for example when planning their cabin interiors. We will think ahead and plan how in-flight installations can be accommodated within the cabin design.”
Pascal Jallier (left)
In Brief Cessna’s CJ4 Completes First Flight The first production Citation CJ4 completed a successful first flight in August, just over three months after the CJ4 prototype completed its maiden flight.
The first production aircraft, Serial 0001, departed McConnell Air Force Base in east Wichita and completed a 41 minute flight, during which numerous systems evaluations were performed. Flown by Cessna Engineering test pilots David Lewandowski and Dan Morris,
the CJ4 returned to Cessna’s facility on schedule. Serial 0001 will primarily be used for avionics and systems certification while the next production aircraft will fly function and reliability along with company service tests. Cessna plans to achieve Federal Aviation Administration type certification in the second half of 2009, followed by customer deliveries beginning in the first half of 2010. Cessna is working toward European Aviation Safety Agency certification concurrently.
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20 MAGAZINE
LEA London Executive Aviation (LEA) has reported that two clear trends are emerging in the charter market as the global economy slows. There continues to be strong demand for large cabin private jets by Very High Net Worth Individuals, whose lifestyles appear unaffected by the current economic malaise. However, in the corporate market, many businesses are downsizing to a new generation of small, four-passenger jets in order to conserve travel budgets. “The charter market looks to have come off its recent high, but demand is still well ahead of traditional levels. That suggests that people have really embraced private jet chartering as a time management tool,” says LEA’s Chief
Executive, Patrick Margetson-Rushmore. “What stands out in particular is that, rather than stopping flying, businesses are downsizing to smaller, greener jets.” The economic slowdown has coincided with the introduction of a new generation of entry level business jets, generally termed Very Light Jets, or VLJs. The first fully operational aircraft in this class is Cessna’s Citation Mustang, and in June 2008 LEA became Europe’s first Mustang fleet operator. “When we ordered our Mustang fleet five years ago there was no way of knowing how the economy would be today,” says Margetson-Rushmore. “However, the current climate really plays to the aircraft’s strengths.”
These new aircraft offer the time-saving benefits of private aviation in a more compact, affordable package. A Citation Mustang can fly up to four passengers, non-stop to virtually any European destination, at speeds approaching 645 kilometres an hour (400 mph). With Mustang charter prices 30 to 40% below those of conventional mid-size jets, the cost of private jet travel can compare with that of turboprop aircraft.
Citation Mustang
In Brief
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Ask an Expert: Freelance Pilots Question: Corporate aviation is expanding very rapidly in Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Asia. In Europe we have noticed that more and more operators ask for, and make use of, freelance pilots. Most of the time these pilots do not know how to arrange their insurance and whether the operator covers any part of the insurance. They have many questions with regard to how and where to register their companies. Other questions arise when pilots move from one country to the other and/or work out of other countries. Does FC have any information or experience to assist this group of pilots? Robin Kloeg, Pilot, Malaysia
Answer: The free movement of workers, including pilots, is a fundamental right of citizens of countries that belong to the European Economic Area (EEA). If you want to work in a country that is outside the EEA you may need to obtain a temporary work permit. According to Eurostat this is becoming increasingly common, with an average of 2.3% of workers in any EU country coming from another member of the block. One international operator we know of is based in mainland Europe, mainly uses UK-based freelance pilots, and pays them in UK pounds. For more information visit the EURES website which has been established to facilitate the movement of workers between EEA states.
Establishing a Company
Insurance Required
Normally a legal resident of an EU-state can establish a company without too much difficulty. In the United Kingdom and the Netherlands this involves a trip to your local Chamber of Commerce who can help with the formalities. In other countries, such as Belgium, this is done through a government department or agency. Remember to take along copies of your qualifications as this is also necessary in some countries.
Some companies require third-party liability cover of between €1.3 and €2 M ($2 and $3 M). Many operators waive this requirement because it can be difficult to find insurers that will provide cover. This is largely because insurers want to link the cover to aviation activity. In fact, the operator asks for this cover to protect them against legal action by the contactor and is intended to cover only non-duty related events.
Brian Humphries, President of the European Business Aviation Association says: “Businesses are very simple to establish. One operator we know of recently took on a contract pilot who had managed to set up his company in just a few days.”
During the contract negotiation phase it is worth asking the operator if they have any specific insurance requirements. Obtain quotes for this insurance before you sign! Most contract pilots fall under the operator’s general liability cover which indemnifies them for all activity whilst engaged on business for the operator.
If you are thinking of becoming a freelancer, it is always worth understanding the tax and social security obligations with which you must comply. A good accountant is invaluable and can also help you to work out which type of company structure best meets your needs. Ask other pilots in your area for recommendations as it is always good to have an accountant that understands your industry. Try not to use the same person or firm that the operator you will work for uses. This will avoid any potential conflicts of interest in the future.
Further Information A good place to get more information is the European Cockpit Association (ECA) which represents flight crew in Europe. There are also many national pilot associations that can provide more accurate local data. The ECA website (eurocockpit.be) has an excellent list of links.
ASK
Do you have a question about business aviation in Europe? Email it to editor @fly-corporate.com
22 MAGAZINE
Banking on Private Jets by Michael Buffham
Michael Buffham from Lloyds TSB Bank’s Corporate Asset Finance division discusses the fi scal value of aircraft ownership. Convenience, productivity and security are usually touted as the main benefits of owning your own private jet or helicopter. These benefits are invariably used to offset the financial premium related to private air travel versus commercial air travel. However, many of the people I talk to ignore the fact that private aviation ownership compares favourably with the cost of commercial business-class travel. Indeed, as a strategic investment, aircraft assets can provide steady returns for corporations as well as for private individuals. The global liquidity environment has encouraged many investors and banks to look for predictable, stable returns on traditional assets – assets they
understand. The current circumstances are likely to lead to an increase in the deliberate and conscientious reshuffling of capital towards reliable and modern assets such as aircraft.
Climbing Asset Values In the past decade the value of assets in the aircraft sector has been excellent, making the sector a very attractive destination for capital investment. For example, a Gulfstream GV aircraft purchased in 1999 is worth 110% of the current retail price of a new productionline model. This is partly as a result of unsatisfied demand in the sector and partly because of the long economic life of aircraft.
Aircraft assets can provide steady returns for corporations as well as for private individuals
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Consider aircraft asset values versus another popular investment asset – commercial property. Over the past ten years commercial property capital values have been seen as a stable asset class for investment, reaching a peak of around 14.5% growth year-on-year by mid-2006.1 However, since the onset of the credit crunch there has been a sharp decline in commercial property capital values – dropping as much as 15% already this year.1 In order to maximise the value of aircraft ownership each buyer must evaluate the financing method that suits their needs. The buyer must project the residual value (RV) of the asset and deal with a host of delivery options that can impact the long-term value and initial cost of the aircraft. The purchase of an aircraft is often a daunting prospect for any private individual, Chief Financial Officer or Treasurer. Working with your bank and with independence from any specific manufacturer you can determine which make and model in the aircraft shopping list sees the greatest financial benefit based on current projections.
Getting Residual Value Right A deep understanding of the industry, the asset and financial modelling is required in order to reach the most accurate RV for any asset. RV also incorporates the maintenance, design, type of use and the number of hours that an aircraft will fly each year. Corporate care can translate to $900,000 (€600,000) in asset value at the end of the ownership period while interior design and configuration can impact the value by up to $1 million (€660,000).
Once the RV has been established the financing method can be chosen. This can range from a traditional bank loan to an operating lease. The financing route taken by the buyer can answer questions such as: • Do I want to pay monthly instalments from a principle? (Fully amortising hire purchase or a loan secured on the asset.) • Do I want to take advantage of the capital allowances available on the purchase price of the asset? (Finance or Operating Lease.) • Do I want to have the financing structure ‘off-balance sheet’ through an Operating Lease? • If I already own an aircraft, do I use the equity tied up in the existing aircraft to fund a new purchase? • Do I need to have title to the aircraft, or just sole use of it?
Another equivalent route is to make a payment on the chosen lending agreement on “Green Delivery” which is when the aircraft has been delivered in a ‘flyable’ state by the manufacturer. This would typically account for around 80 to 85% of the total purchase price of the aircraft with the balance becoming due and payable to the manufacturer on the satisfactory completion of final delivery. Having navigated successfully through all of the aforementioned it is more than likely that there will still be potential financial issues present at the outset of the transaction as buyers weigh up currency payment options – particularly if the aircraft is being purchased in a non-functional currency.2 Foreign exchange and interest rate hedging instruments can become a value-adding part of the financing solution at this stage. Financiers will introduce their risk management experts to structure suitable hedging arrangements for this part of the solution.
Financial Benefits Delivery Financing Options Financing can also be arranged to complement delivery arrangements. For instance, pre-delivery period finance enables a potential buyer to receive the financing package in phases to meet payments due to the manufacturer on pre-agreed milestone dates throughout the construction period of the aircraft. This method of financing effectively means that the buyer will only ever have to pay interest on the cost incurred at the current point of construction. That means when the aircraft is only half built the buyer will only be paying interest on the funds advanced at that point, not the whole end-price of the asset.
There are clearly financial benefits to owning aircraft, both for individuals and for companies. However, the process of establishing the type of aircraft to purchase, the financing method, the delivery programme, the RV and the service costs must be detailed in order to assess the true value of the purchase for the individual client. Such complexity, in transactions that can often include up to 100 different sets of legal documentation, should only be handled by experienced banking partners with the resources and experience committed to execute such complex transactions. Of course, it is up to the buyer to find one that is trusted and skilled enough to take them through each stage of the process.
1 Source: Investment Property Databank (IPD) A currency that is not normally used by a legal entity (such as a company). Most business jet purchases are agreed in US dollars. A European company that has no access to their own US dollar reserves would need to find a finance partner that could trade in that currency to complete the transaction.
2
Michael Buffham
24 MAGAZINE
Pratt & Whitney Canada: Leading in Innovations and Green Solutions by Nicholas Goubert
PW810
Pratt & Whitney Canada is one of the leading providers of engines to the world aerospace industry. Every two seconds, a Pratt & Whitney Canada powered aircraft takes off or lands somewhere in the world. So why is a company that is obviously making great products so concerned about the environment?
As concerns about aviationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impact on the environment keep growing, some companies choose to bury their heads in the sand, while others act proactively and lead the way. Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) is one company that is at the forefront of innovation, investing significant cash to ensure their solutions are as environmentally friendly as possible.
As part of its general strategy, P&WC is investing over â&#x201A;Ź1 billion ($1.5 billion) in research and development programmes over a five-year period. The total amount of this investment goes into advancing its Green Engine programme, which focuses on testing and implementing innovative technologies that will optimise fuel consumption, emissions, noise levels and weight.
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Running simultaneously is P&WC’s Green Factory programme in which efforts are made in all production facilities to implement more sustainable processes. Since 1996, water consumption has reduced by a factor 10. Over the same period, air emissions were reduced by 75% – by replacing petrol-based solvents with water-based solvents that are gentler on the environment.
Whole Product Lifecycle Even though aircraft engines are mostly made of recyclable metals, P&WC remains concerned with its whole product lifecycle. One of the company’s goals is to eliminate materials of concern such as cadmium, hexavalent chrome and lead from engine parts, and from the processes used to manufacture the engines. The company hopes to achieve this aim in the near future. When asked about the main motivations for P&WC to adopt such a proactive attitude toward the environment, Michael Perodeau, Vice President Corporate Aviation and Military Programs, says: “Our parent company, United Technologies Corporation (UTC), has a long standing corporate-wide focus on leading the way in environmental matters, and there is also a strong interest from the market.”
As one of the leaders in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, P&WC feels the pressure from its customers worldwide and is willing to answer their demand. P&WC’s business partners, the aircraft manufacturers, have similar interests and expect Pratt & Whitney’s new engines to surpass the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) standards for noise and emissions. The trend is even more pronounced in the European market where the demand for environmentally sustainable products in the business aviation industry has been higher than in other parts of the world for a number of years.
Sustainability Strategy The commitment of P&WC to protect the planet for future generations is one of the company’s core values. The soaring price of oil certainly increases the demand for more fuel-efficient aircraft, but P&WC’s environmental concerns started long before the price of fuel began to increase. As Perodeau declares: “We were investing in programmes to develop and test new technologies to improve the environmental impact of our aircraft engines before the relatively recent rise in fuel prices.”
As part of its overall sustainability strategy, P&WC aims to reduce NOx and CO emissions and fuel consumption, among the most important contributors to degradation of the environment. “P&WC’s goal is to sustain its market leadership in innovation and in green solutions in particular,” says Perodeau.
Biofuel Research In July 2008, Pratt & Whitney announced its participation in an industry-university research project to evaluate the possibility of using “second generation” biofuels to power business aircraft engines. These fuels originate from sources that do not compete with human food supplies, such as jatropha, algae or cellulosic biomass. The project is sponsored by the governments of Canada and India under the framework of a joint research collaboration programme in the field of science and technology. In Canada, Pratt & Whitney collaborates with four institutions: McGill University, Laval University, Ryerson University and Canada’s National Research Council. In India the company works jointly with Infotech Enterprises Ltd, two major Indian oil companies and the Indian Institute of Technology, Science and Petroleum.
PW308 turbofan
Pratt & Whitney implements more sustainable processes
26 MAGAZINE
Jatropha plant
The objective of the four-year research project is to evaluate the use of biofuels in aircraft engines. A gas turbine engine can run on different sorts of fuel but the engine is just one system among the many that are found on an aircraft. Ideally, using a new fuel would not require any modifications to the aircraft or the engine. But in fact, it may require many changes and P&WC are working to understand the impact of burning biofuels on engine components and materials over the short and long term. At the same time, the company is evaluating the potential impact of the alternate fuels on other aspects of engine operation. During the project, P&WC will benefit from the biofuel expertise of its partners while focusing on developing fuel-flexible engines capable of powering aircraft efficiently and with less impact on the environment.
Out of This World P&WC has recently signed an agreement with the Spaceship Company who will power their aircraft with the PW308 turbofan engine. White Knight II will be used to launch the world’s first commercial passenger suborbital spaceship, SpaceShipTwo. The Spaceship Company is jointly owned by Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites. P&WC will also cooperate with Virgin Fuels to evaluate the use of biofuels in the aircraft. P&WC’s interest in developing aircraft engines capable of burning biofuels efficiently and sustainably reflects the worldwide interest in alternative fuel solutions. In Europe, demand for biofuels is big and increasing. This is despite discussions on the potentially harmful impact of biofuels on the environment. In the debate about biofuels, P&WC’s position is to dedicate its highly skilled experts to understanding and assessing their impact. Whether biofuels will finally be adopted as a solution is a complex political decision that is beyond the scope of engine manufacturers to
P&WC will benefit from the biofuel expertise of its partners
decide. As Perodeau says: “At least we will help with the understanding of the technical consequences of substituting regular fuel with biofuels.” Research on biofuels is just one element in P&WC’s portfolio of research and development projects and programmes. The company’s approach is holistic in the sense that environmental concerns influence each new research project or product development programme. Efforts to test and implement new technologies that could yield environmental benefits are made at every stage of a product’s development and production process. This continually demonstrates the company’s commitment to lead green technology development. Demand for turboprops remains solid, especially for short-haul operators. As a leader in the turboprop market, P&WC wants to keep its products at the leading edge of green design. The company is investing resources in research and development projects and adopting an overall approach to improve every step of the engine production process.
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PurePower The PurePower engine development programme illustrates Pratt & Whitney’s commitment to develop products that are even more environmentally friendly. The PurePower PW800 engine family was developed as part of this project and is loaded with innovative technologies in every major module. P&WC believes the engine will achieve double-digit reductions in fuel consumption, CO2 emissions, and engine noise levels. The new engine family constitutes a breakthrough answer to potential improvements in engines that will yield
significant benefits for the environment. It not only meets the current regulation standards but surpasses them by far. P&WC’s objective is to meet the regulations that will be in effect ten to fifteen years from now. For example, the PW800 engine, will surpass ICAO’s stringent standards for emissions by margins up to 35% for CO emissions and 50% for NOx. The PurePower PW810C engine was recently selected by Cessna to power the Citation Columbus business jet, which is scheduled to enter service in 2014.
P&WC believes there will be other applications for this new engine. By then the company is certain it it will have achieved new breakthrough developments in its quest for the most environmentally friendly engines and evaluated the consequences and advantages of efficiently burning biofuels in adapted gas turbine engines. Thanks to P&WC’s efforts and attitude, the impact of aviation on the environment might become less of an issue, or at least one with potentially sustainable solutions for improvement.
The PurePower PW810C engine was recently selected by Cessna to power the Citation Columbus business jet
28 MAGAZINE
Flying Biomass? by Dan Smith The aviation industry is feeling more and more pressure from customers, regulators and the general public to do more about its environmental performance. The price of oil is also forcing designers to create lighter, more fuel-efďŹ cient aircraft that still meet client requirements on range and comfort. In this issue of FlyCorporate we have looked in detail at a number of initiatives that the industry and individual companies are taking. But what improvements can be made in materials, design and fuel to balance the confl icting expectations?
Changes in fuel technology are driven by a number of factors
Material Improvements
Everyone Has Winglets
A key way to improve the environmental impact and reduce the fuel consumption of your plane is to make it lighter. The new kid on the block in light airframe design is carbon fibre (See Composite or Metal, p. 54). There seem to be no end of possibilities for this magic fabric, though reliance on oil as a raw material will probably see its price remain high. Despite recent drops, there are few pundits out there who expect the price of crude not to increase significantly in the coming years.
One of the most common solutions to improving aircraft efficiency has been the wingtip device, better known as a winglet. The almost vertical extension has the effect of increasing lift while reducing drag on the wing. Testing done by NASA and Boeing has shown that winglets reduce drag by 4.5 to 5.5%. The small improvement in fuel economy this provides, benefits both range and load capacity.
The price of aluminium also suffers if the cost of energy remains high. The processing of bauxite into aluminium is extremely energy-intensive and therefore costly. The opening of new smelters in parts of the world with access to geothermal and hydroelectric sources of energy, such as the recent Alcoa smelter facility in Iceland, will help reduce this. Using recycled aluminium to make new products also reduces the level of energy required.
At NBAA in 1977, Learjet showed off the prototype Learjet Model 28 which had the first winglets ever used on a jet. Intended as an experimental aircraft, the Model 28â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance was so impressive, Learjet opted to put the aircraft into production. Flight tests made with and without the winglets showed that they increased range by about 6.5%. Winglets have almost become standard kit on a Learjet, featuring on models including the 40, 45, 60 and the recently announced Learjet 85.
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A new development in this technology is the blended winglet. Blended winglets form an almost natural extension of the wing and fold upward in a curve, rather than the almost right-angle join of conventional devices. The blended winglet is aesthetically more pleasing, making it popular with business jet makers. It also reduces interference drag which can occur at the junction between the wing and winglet. The drag-inducing vortex created at this junction can negate some of the positive effects of a winglet.
Fuelling Tomorrow Aircraft manufacturers are increasingly cooperating with oil companies to develop new fuels for use in aviation. Changes in fuel technology are driven by a number of factors. Although environmental concerns top the list, other factors include the price of existing fuels and the future pressure on those prices, availability of supplies and, in some countries, energy independence. Shell is currently testing its Gas to Liquids (GTL) synthetic jet fuels. GTL is a technology to convert natural gas into liquid kerosene. The properties of GTL Kerosene are similar to conventional jet fuel making it a “drop in” replacement for today’s kerosene. It can be used in today’s engines without any modifications. Shell is working with US-based Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative to ensure the GTL fuel meets international standards for use in aviation. At the November 2007 Dubai Airshow, Shell signed an agreement with Qatar Airways, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Fuel Company, Airbus, Rolls-Royce and a number of other companies to research the potential benefits of its GTL synthetic jet fuel in aviation engines. The focus is on evaluating potential improvements in air quality, fuel economy and overall reduction in CO2 and other emissions.
Specific studies will also look at operational benefits for airlines, such as enhanced payload-range, reduced fuelburn and increased engine durability. An Airbus 380 became the first commercial aircraft to fly with the synthetic fuel on 1 February this year. The aircraft completed a three-hour flight from Filton in the United Kingdom to Airbus’ home-base in Toulouse, France. The A380 was chosen because the aircraft is already the environmental benchmark in air travel. It has four engines including segregated fuel tanks, making it ideal for engine shut down and re-light tests under standard evaluation conditions. During the flight, engine number one was fed with a blend of GTL and jet fuel whilst the remaining three were fed with standard jet fuel. On the successful completion of the test, Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders said: “This has been a great achievement. Fuel and environment are key challenges aviation is facing and for which technology and international research collaboration open up new horizons.”
Fuelling the Future A 2007 assessment by the US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board indicates that alternative aviation fuels will become available in three phases. In the near term (0 to 5 years) the Board believes that alternative sources of fuel may come from coal using the FischerTropsch process. Possible sources in the mid-term (5 to15 years) include oil shale, ethanol blends and biodiesel.
Hydrogen fuel cells may also have become a reality by this time. In the far term (15+ years) the Board believes biomass, black liquor fuels and hydrogen fuel for turbine engines should be available. Creating the fuel is not the only challenge. Aircraft makers will need to accommodate the different volumes and weights of the new fuels in their designs. For example, liquid hydrogen occupies a volume of 0.119 cubic metres (4.2 ft3) per British Thermal Unit (BTU). This is 76% more than synthetic fuel which has a volume of 0.028 m3/ BTU (1.0 ft3/BTU). However, its weight is just 0.16 kg/BTU (0.36 lb/BTU) while synthetic jet fuel weighs in at 0.45 kg/ BTU (1.0 lb/BTU). The pressures and challenges facing the industry are immense and it takes a very skilled crystal-ball gazer to say which technologies and solutions will meet with commercial and environmental success in the future. The aviation industry has shown a remarkable willingness to take action and develop new and exciting solutions. There is every reason to expect this will continue, long into the future.
Blended winglets increase lift while reducing drag on the wing
Blended winglet on a Hawker 850XP
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G650 Sets a Higher Standard by Jack Carroll Clean-sheet Design Targets: 7,000 nm range at Mach .85; 5,000 nm at Mach .90, maximum speed Mach .925.
The G650 will be able to perform unprecedented flying feats
The ambitious numbers Gulfstream has set for the G650 include a projected maximum speed of Mach .925, which will make it the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fastest civilian jet. But where the largest of family Gulfstream really shines is in range coupled with speed. Thanks to the combination of a new aerodynamically optimised wing design and a pair of new RollsRoyce BR725 engines putting out 143 kN (32,200 pounds) of thrust at take-off, the G650 will be able to set new records.
For example, it will be able to fly the 6,370 nm (11,797 km) from Dubai to Chicago nearly 1.5 hours faster than existing long-range jets. A true time machine, it will cut more than 30 minutes off the 4,788 nm (8,867 km) route from Los Angeles to London and nearly an hour off the 5,932 nm (10,986 km) flight from New York to Tokyo.
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Excellence Is A Given Gulfstream’s current backlog for the six mid-size and large-cabin models in production stands in excess of $20 billion (€13.3 billion). That will surely increase once letters of intent for the G650 become firm orders. Just as every manufacturer seems to be experiencing, the international sector has steadily grown in importance. Robert Baugniet, Director, Corporate Communications tells us: “Four or five years ago North America accounted for 75% of our sales. But in 2007, international sales outpaced North American for the first time, 53 to 47%. In the same period North American orders increased 30%, so sales weren’t really being lost from the domestic side; the global market was simply growing larger. For the first half of 2008, our parent company, General Dynamics, announced that international growth continues with 55% of new orders coming from outside North America.” In the second quarter of 2008, Gulfstream reported 39 deliveries of green aircraft versus 36 in the same period of 2007. Forty completed aircraft were rolled out to Gulfstream’s loyal customers
during the second quarter of this year. [Note: A “green” aircraft is a new plane that can be flown but that has not been completed internally and externally.] Baugniet also notes: “The impact of new orders won’t be felt for a few years, so our in-service fleet is still dominated by North America. As orders become deliveries over the next four to five years, obviously our international in-service fleet will increase as well.” According to Baugniet, if you were to order a G550 today, you’d have about a four-year wait. With the G650 scheduled to enter service in 2012, after early deliveries are made, there will be an even longer wait. Here he offers some sound advice: “For some, this may be a problem. But for others, they’re wise enough to wait until their warranties expire in five years or so before changing aircraft. The key is to plan ahead; order the Gulfstream you want now and it will be waiting for when your current warranty is about to expire. In fact, many of our customers place orders based on their five-year warranty periods, so they don’t mind the wait at all.”
In 2007, international sales outpaced North American for the first time
Distinctive Style It’s also made quite clear to me that the G650 is not a replacement for the G550, which continues to sell quite well, thank you. “The G650 is a totally different aircraft, with a completely new design, requiring a new FAA certification. The G650 is definitely not a follow on. It does have the distinctive style and appeal of all Gulfstreams, but it has new engines, new avionics, new wing, new cabin systems; even a lower ramp profile for easy luggage access,” says Baugniet. Planning the 650 began three years ago, with comments and advice from Gulfstream’s 75-member Customer Advisory Board. At a later stage the Advanced Technical Customer Advisory Board came into the picture. The Board Members told Gulfstream that they needed a larger-cabin, longer-range business jet and the Gulfstream G650, announced in March 2008, was born. Why? Says Baugniet: “For one thing, because you don’t want to have the CEO cooling his heels for hours waiting to make a connection. If you’re travelling long distances, the airlines are no longer the way to do it. A direct nonstop flight on a business jet, in some cases, can actually reduce travel time by up to 50%.
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“Our G650 will have the largest cabin of any purpose-built business jet, the highest speed and longest range. And as far as passenger comfort is concerned, the cabin altitude is significantly lower than that of the airlines.” Gulfstream will not sell you a green aircraft under any circumstance. They sell only completed aircraft. They will work with a customer’s designers, but feel their people know Gulfstreams better than anyone, thus they insist on doing the hands-on, complex work of producing a complete aircraft. They also handle all product support for every aircraft produced.
Baugniet notes that product support is a separate $700 M (€465 M) business for Gulfstream. In customer surveys sponsored by two respected publications, one has Gulfstream Aerospace at #1 in product support for six consecutive years; while the other has had the company at #1 for nine out of eleven years. “We build it, we take care of it,” says Baugniet.
Passenger Comfort Top Priority Unless you’re basketball giant Yao Ming, the G650 offers a true stand-up cabin for most people. The unfinished cabin measures 1.96 m (6 ft 5 inches) high,
2.59 m (8 ft 6 inches) wide 16.33 m (53 ft 7 inches) long. A 2.03 m (6 ft 8 inch) floor allows larger seats, wider aisles and three-across seating if necessary. A key comfort feature is cabin altitude, which is much lower than that found on commercial airliners: 1,478 m (4,850 ft) at flight level 510 (FL510/15,545 m/51,000 ft) and only 853 m (2,800 ft) at flight level 410 (FL410/12,497 m/41,000 ft). This reduces the fatigue common on long-range flights, while increasing mental alertness, which is important for the flight crew as well.
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Unless youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re basketball giant Yao Ming, the G650 offers a true stand-up cabin
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The G650’s advanced environmental control system features quieter fresh air distribution and independently vented lavatories. While the cabin windows retain Gulfstream’s familiar oval shape, they now number eight per side and measure 52 cm high by 71 cm wide (20.5 by 28 inches), the industry’s largest. Besides offering panoramic views, they will flood the cabin with natural ambient light, making it appear even larger visually. Gulfstream has also come up with what it calls a Cabin Essential design philosophy. This means that all cabin systems have been designed with redundancy in mind, so if any essential cabin equipment should fail (for example, water, toilet or entertainment centre) it has a back-up to ensure cabin functionality is not affected. Passengers won’t even realise a back-up system has taken over.
Advanced PlaneView II Cockpit The G650’s technologically advanced PlaneView II cockpit’s features include four, 35.6 cm (14 inch) LCD displays, three PlaneBook computer tablets, a standby multi-function controller and an automatic three-dimensional scanning weather radar with an integral terrain database. To ensure the pilots’ situational awareness and flight safety, the G650’s vision technology includes Gulfstream’s Enhanced Vision System (EVS II), the Synthetic Vision-Primary Flight Display (SV-PFD) and Head-Up Display (HUD II). This means that the pilots will have a superior view of the terrain, obstacles and approaches, regardless of weather conditions. Gulfstream is the first manufacturer to provide its operators with both enhanced and synthetic vision systems. The combination contributes greatly to overall flight safety, which of course is the first concern of crew and passengers.
The G650 flight deck has the same basic layout as the G550. This means the pilot type-rating for the G650 is expected to be the same as the GV, G550 and other large-cabin Gulfstream jets currently in production, with minimal training required. The G650 will offer a pilot-pleasing, three axis fly-by-wire system for flight envelope protection, increased redundancy and reduced maintenance. The system exceeds certification requirements and features a quadruple-redundant flight-control computer system for command of all flight control surfaces. In addition, the three-axis system has a separate, dedicated back-up flight control computer that provides an extra level of safety. It all sounds like a piece of cake for the pilots, as well it should.
High Efficiency = Lower Emissions The new Rolls Royce BR725 engines, each producing 71.6 kN (16,100 lb) of thrust on take-off, feature a 127 cm (50 inch) swept fan with 24 blades for improved flow, increased efficiency, greatly reduced noise, lower emissions and a smaller carbon footprint. In fact, the BR725 has fuel-burn levels comparable to those of much smaller aircraft. Combining the Rolls-Royce BR725 engines with Gulfstream’s all-new aerodynamically optimised wing will allow the G650 to meet the latest take-off certification requirements, have outstanding “hot and high” performance, and be able to take its passengers up to 7,000 nm (12,964 km) non-stop. To keep “all systems go,” the G650 will use Gulfstream’s PlaneConnect software, a maintenance link that automatically transmits aircraft maintenance information to the customer’s operations department with a copy to Gulfstream Technical Operations. The data can then be quickly analysed to identify the condition of the aircraft’s systems, leading to fast maintenance turnaround times.
With the many overall systems reliability improvements and 600 hours between major inspections, the G650 should demonstrate outstanding availability and dispatch reliability.
Lower Use of Energy in Production The manufacture of the G650 fuselage will use new structural design and production processes, including bonded skin panels, machined frames and precision assembly to ensure quality, fit and finish. With fewer parts and reduced assembly time (for example, the G650’s new window design is 16% larger, yet uses 78% fewer parts, reducing assembly time by 57%) the streamlined manufacturing cycle also consumes less energy, another environmental plus for Gulfstream. While composites are used for a number of small components, tried-and-true aluminium construction still prevails at Gulfstream. Though Baugniet notes: “The people in our composites lab are looking into all aspects of composites construction.” Maybe down the line there might be a composite wing, fuselage or both in Gulfstream’s future. If all moves forward as per the ambitious development schedule, the G650 should make its first flight in the second half of 2009. US FAA Type Certification and validation by the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) is scheduled to follow in 2011 with first customer deliveries in 2012. And we can be sure of one thing: The Gulfstream G650 will be worthy of the Flagship title and is certain to take Gulfstream’s 50 year tradition of excellence to a whole new level.
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G650 Fact Sheet Capacity:
3-4 crew; 11-18 passengers
Power:
Two Rolls Royce BR725 turbofans with 71.6 kN (16,100 lb) thrust
Avionics:
Maximum range: Speed:
Distance:
Altitude:
Size:
Weight:
• • • • • • • • • •
PlaneView II cockpit with four 35.6 cm (14”) LCD displays Triplex Flight Management System Automatic Emergency Descent Mode Stand-by Multi-Function Controllers New 3-D Weather Radar Kollsman Enhanced Vision System II Honeywell Synthetic Vision-Primary Flight Display Rockwell Collins HUD II Head-Up Display Honeywell Advanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS)
3,000 nautical miles (5,556 km) High:
Mach .925
Long-range cruise:
Mach .85
Takeoff:
1,829 m @ MTOW (6,000 ft)
Landing:
914 m @MLW (3,000 ft)
Maximum operating:
15,545 m (51,000 ft)
Initial cruise ceiling:
30.40 m (99 ft, 9 inches)
Length:
30.35 m (99 ft, 7 inches)
Overall wingspan:
16.33 m (53 ft, 7 inches)
Cabin length:
2.59 m (8 ft, 6 inches) unfinished
Cabin width:
2.03 m (6 ft, 8 inches) complete
Cabin height:
1.96 m (6 ft, 5 inches)
Ramp (maximum):
45,179 kg (99,600 lb)
Takeoff (maximum):
37,878 kg (83,500 lb)
Landing (maximum):
27,443 kg (60,500 lb)
Fuel capacity:
20,049 kg (44,200 lb)
“The people in our composites lab are looking into all aspects of composites construction”
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How Green is Your Offset Scheme? Flying from Europe to Orlando for NBAA means you will be personally responsible for producing several tons of CO2. Although many people are happy to pay to offset this, how do you know where your euros are going? Liz Moscrop investigates.
Aviation has become the devil incarnate for some
Green politics are here to stay. Since the Kyoto Protocol on climate change came into force at the beginning of 2005, the 27 members of the European Union have vowed to reduce the total of greenhouse gas emissions by 2012. The target is a 5.2% reduction compared to 1990 levels. In December 2006, the European Commission proposed expanding its current CO2 emissions trading scheme to cover the aviation industry. All flights to and from Europe will be included from 2012. (See ETS Levy, p. 41)
Aviation has become the devil incarnate for some. One hurdle the entire industry must overcome is that the sector is responsible for just 1.6% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Business aviation is responsible for at most one percent of that 1.6% (that is, 0.016% of total global greenhouse gas emissions).1 Although new aircraft and engine technologies will make fleets 25% more-fuel efficient by 2020, the corporate aviation sector must choose greener commercial strategies.
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If European business aviation is to have any hope of avoiding draconian taxes, it needs to sharpen its act. Guy Lachlan, chief executive of the British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA) says: “The BBGA and other trade associations in Europe are lobbying for business aviation to be allowed a simplified means of compliance to emissions trading. The authorities’ acceptance of such a scheme is more likely if we can demonstrate that we are actively taking steps to offset our environmental impact.”
(CDM) countries and companies can say they are reducing their emissions by investing in carbon-friendly projects in developing countries. One of the betterknown schemes is reforestation, which is supposed to absorb excess carbon caused by burning fossil fuels. However, environmental agencies have raised concerns about reforestation, saying it is an inexact science. Planting trees in one place might stifle tree growth elsewhere, for example, by drying up a river feeding a forest downstream.
Dodgy Carbon Salesmen Offsetting is one way in which the industry can neutralise its footprint. Emissions reduction trading schemes allow companies to buy and sell carbon credits. The last few years have also seen the inevitable rise of rogue carbon offset firms selling credits on a burgeoning unofficial market. Using a provision of the Kyoto protocol called the “Clean Development Mechanism”
There are many examples of money pledged to developing economies being misdirected. In 2005, the UK donated £50,000 (€64,000) to an African township to provide energy-saving light bulbs to offset emissions caused by world leaders flying to the G8 summit through the CDM. Reporters from the BBC discovered that the money went to auditors at an international accountancy firm that had been hired to check on
the scheme’s efficiency. The auditing process was so expensive the township could have been left in debt and would have been better off selling its carbon credits on the international market, with the £50,000 spent on promoting low-energy light bulbs in the UK. Ironically a South African firm was already supplying energy-efficient light bulbs to the township. Not all projects are as ill thought-out, but it is worth investigating your carbon offset provider and choosing wisely.
The Good Guys There are several reputable initiatives available, which have been awarded the industry “Gold Standard” label. The BBGA launched its own audited carbonbalancing scheme in 2007. All projects are independently verified and are either UN certified or meet the Gold Standard. Because business aviation operates on a whole aircraft basis, its administration is simple and emissions are calculated based on fuel burn.
Offsetting is one way in which the industry can neutralise its footprint
www. Source: Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change prepared for the UK Government. You can read or download the Report from the following website: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk – Type Stern Review into the Search box.
1
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Bombardier has selected British offset provider ClimateCare to manage its offset programme (See Green Trendsetters, p. 39). As of February 2008, aircraft buyers had the option to take part in a carbon-offset programme included in the purchase price. Bombardier also enrolled its demonstration fleet and its Express aircraft at an annual cost of around €166,000 ($250,000). The airframer’s move signals that the business aviation industry is taking its green commitments more seriously. ClimateCare’s Managing Director, Mike Mason says: “There is a long way to go yet. We need to fix the problem and at the moment we are merely bailing our way out of trouble.” According to Mason, offsetting is the best way forward while the industry investigates greener ways of doing business. He continues: “Carbon offsetting is neither scam nor panacea, it is not a perfect solution, but it is the best interim solution we can offer.”
Audited Schemes Using the CDM mechanism companies can reduce their emissions by investing in carbon-friendly projects in developing countries. Mason says that ClimateCare prefers to use this method rather than investing in projects closer to home, which can prevent developed countries from trying to exceed their emissions reductions targets. Consequently, the company has invested in projects, such as providing treadle pumps for Indian farmers in Jharkhand. Previously the farmers hired expensive polluting diesel pumps to try and irrigate their arid land. The treadle pump is human powered and enables two or three harvests a year, instead of one. Mike Buckley, Managing Director of the UK’s Carbon Footprint, says: “Companies should look for carbon offset trading schemes that offer third party audited standards. That way there is a level of traceability and they can ensure that the company really is backing green projects.”
James Dillon-Godfray, Head of Marketing for Oxford Airport says: “We use the BBGA scheme because it is properly regulated. However, I believe that the easiest way for business aviation to offset our emissions would be to add something like a three percent levy on to the price of fuel at source.” He acknowledges: “This could only work if the entire sector bought into it.” NetJets’ Mark Wilson sits on the International Business Aviation Council, which is setting-up industry wide standards for business aviation so that operators know they are buying into reputable schemes. He said: “There are a number of other measures we can take to counteract our carbon footprint, such as single engine taxiing, flexible route development, continuous descents and offsetting our footprint at the end of the flight.” So although operators still have to do their homework when researching strong offsetting schemes, the good news is that there are now several mechanisms in place to help combat the cowboys.
Operators still have to do their homework when researching strong offsetting schemes
Bombardier Global Express XRS
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Green Trendsetters The idea of carbon offsetting has been a point of discussion for many years now. However, today the question is no longer whether you should calculate your greenhouse gas emissions and compensate them by funding environmental projects, but rather which provider you are going to entrust to help you do so. Robyn Boyle takes us through what some of the most progressive business aviation companies are doing to reduce their carbon footprints. Bombardier and ClimateCare One of the world’s leading aircraft manufacturers, Bombardier Aerospace announced its eco-conscious initiatives at NBAA 2007. Earlier this year, Bombardier put their money where their mouth is by partnering with UKbased leading carbon offset provider, ClimateCare. New aircraft buyers now have the option to pay an annual fee to offset their CO2 emissions, based on aircraft type and average yearly utilisation. The funds are invested through ClimateCare in green energy projects that reduce an equivalent amount of carbon. ClimateCare has over 50 emission reduction projects. According to ClimateCare the projects they support involve energy efficiency and renewable energy, mostly in developing countries. In most cases, these projects not only reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but also provide additional benefits to the local community. All projects adhere to one of the International Standards for voluntary emission reduction projects.
ClimateCare is far from a start-up company. It has been a leader in sustainable energy projects for the past ten years. This year, CNBC European Business Magazine named ClimateCare one of the Global Top 100 Low-Carbon Pioneers, the only specific voluntary carbon market offset supplier on the list. A spokesperson for Bombardier outlined why the company chose to partner with ClimateCare: “ClimateCare is a leader in the carbon offsetting industry, with a solid experience in the aviation sector. They have helped develop the science behind carbon offsetting even further by developing a transparent methodology to calculate carbon emissions.”
ExecuJet and myclimate ExecuJet Aviation Group is the first private jet charter company to align with Swiss-based myclimate, a highly regarded, non-profit organisation. myclimate supports projects that lead to a direct reduction of greenhouse gases. The projects must also make a demonstrably positive contribution to sustainable development and be both ecologically and socially compatible.
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ExecuJet’s customers can offset the CO2 generated when they fly by purchasing myclimate tickets. The company’s decision to join myclimate was based on their international reputation for high project standards as a provider of voluntary carbon offsetting measures. Tufts University in the USA has rated it as one of the top four providers of carbon-offset programmes for air travel and British consultant ENDS named it one of the best carbon-offset providers worldwide. As a non-profit organisation, myclimate diverts maximum income to carbon offsetting projects. “ExecuJet is committed to reducing and offsetting the impact of its operations on the environment and sees it as an inherent part of our corporate responsibility,” said Gerrit Basson, ExecuJet Group’s Managing Director. Scheduled airlines such as Lufthansa, Swiss, and Virgin Atlantic have also chosen to partner with myclimate.
Flying Group and CO2logic Earlier this year Flying Group announced its commitment to inform, make aware and train passengers and employees about compensating for CO2
emissions. Through its partnership with CO2logic in Belgium, Flying Group became the first business aviation group in the Benelux and France to calculate its carbon footprint and and implement a compensation plan. As a result, all of Flying Group’s offices, premises and employee movements are now CO2 neutral. Flying Group recently launched a scheme that will actively encourage passengers to offset their contribution to carbon dioxide emissions by including emissions from flight operations in the pricing. CO2logic will in turn use the funds to support bio-mass projects in India. In addition to contributing to economic growth in the region, the use of the renewable biomass to produce green power means there is less fossil fuel burnt and therefore less greenhouse gas emissions. CO2logic chooses its projects by verifying them against the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) provisions of the United Nations Kyoto Protocol. CO2logic believes this ensures the offset schemes it supports are amongst the best available.
NetJets and EcoSecurities NetJets Europe, the largest business jet operator in Europe, has launched a carefully constructed carbon offset programme. The programme has two central objectives: to make NetJets 100% carbon neutral by 2012 and to provide aircraft owners the opportunity to offset emissions from their flights. “This is very important to us, to our customers, and to society. As a leader in our industry, we have an obligation to also lead the way in environmental initiatives,” said Robert Dranitzke, Director of Marketing, Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility for NetJets Europe. In Europe, NetJets surveyed 29 different carbon offset companies and went through a painstaking selection process before deciding upon EcoSecurities, a leader in the global carbon market. EcoSecurities has supported more than 374 projects which have been selected to provide authentic and verifiable emission reductions. The company involves external environmental experts during the selection process.
Carbon neutrality: A lofty goal? Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) warn that offsetting greenhouse gas emissions should not replace serious legislative steps to significantly reduce emissions. As regular citizens, all of us contribute to the rise in greenhouse gases just by going about our lives every day. Those of us concerned about climate change can either stop driving, flying and using heating... or contribute to offset schemes. How do you know which offset programmes support reliable, beneficial projects that lead to a genuine reduction in ghg emissions? Fortunately, the Kyoto Protocol CDM measures and validates the environmental impact of a given project. As an additional assurance, the Gold Standard has been established by 44 NGOs and recognises the best projects under the CDM. The Gold Standard is designed to keep the voluntary market in check.
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol allowing industrialised countries to invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own countries. Before a CDM project is approved the parties to the agreement must establish that the planned reductions would not occur without the additional incentive provided by emission reductions credits, a concept known as “additionality”. For more information, visit the CDM website at cdm.unfccc.int/index.htm
www.
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ETS Levy Bad News for BizAv by Dan Smith
The European Union has recently adopted the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) rules for the aviation industry. The new measures will come into force in 2012, a year later than was originally planned. The ETS has major negative implications for the business aviation sector, particularly for operators with an average fl eet size of more than 5-7 aircraft (depending on the aircraft size). Under new rules approved by the European Union (EU) Parliament on 8 July 2008, all flights into and out of the EU will be covered by the ETS from 2012. Airlines will receive 85% of their emission allowances for free in 2012. Business aviation will not receive similar free allowances. (This percentage may be reduced from 2013 as part of the general review of the Emissions Trading Directive.)
An exemption has been introduced for commercial air operators with very low traffic levels on routes to, from or within the EU (less than 242 flights per four month period on an annual basis) or with low annual emissions (less than 10,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum). Bizarrely this concession does not apply to non-commercial corporate operators, who will have to trade every tonne of carbon they produce.
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As reported in the last issue of FlyCorporate, the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) had been lobbying for an alternative means of compliance that would enable business aircraft owners and operators to offset their greenhouse gas emissions equitably. EBAA argued that aircraft weighing less than 20 tonnes or with fewer than 20 seats should be able to adopt the alternative means of compliance. Instead, the EU has adopted a more complex set of rules that mean many owners and operators will need to spend vast amounts of time and money on administration, whilst being unlikely to be able to purchase CO2 credits in bulk because of the extremely low emissions of business aircraft. In the words of Eric Mandemaker, Chief Executive Officer of EBAA: “By trying to treat everyone equally, the EU has actually introduced imbalance.”
0.03% of Emissions, 100% Cost According to EU estimates, the airline industry accounts for 3 to 4% of all manmade greenhouse gas emissions in Europe. The business aviation sector accounts for just one percent of total emissions from the airline industry which works out at between 0.03 and 0.04% of all EU emissions. That’s pretty low for a sector that accounts for 8% of all air traffic in the world.
The costs of complying with the legislation are potentially enormous. Under the proposed regulations each operator, regardless of size, will need to record their flight time, number of passengers and the fuel they have burnt on each mission. They must then calculate their emissions and find an offset scheme to account for those emissions. The EBAA estimates that it will take at least 30 minutes to compile the data and complete the necessary paperwork for a single flight. For business aviation in Europe, where flight times are usually short, this could mean 30 minutes of paperwork for every hour in the air. Some of the latest and lightest corporate aircraft emit less than 1 tonne of CO2 per flight hour. With carbon credits currently selling for around €25-30 a tonne, a one-hour flight would generate less than €30 for the EU. However, administration of that flight is likely to cost the operator at least another €30 for the half hour of administrative support needed to comply with the ETS. Add to this the cost of administration and enforcement on the EU side and one begins to wonder whether this really is the best way to save the environment. The additional costs of complying with the ETS will undoubtedly be passed on to the end user. For a sector that contributes enormously to the efficiency of business and enhances productivity to the benefit of the EU economy, this is particularly galling.
“By trying to treat everyone equally, the EU has actually introduced imbalance”
General Revenue The EBAA has advocated that the funds collected should be channelled into research that will further reduce the emissions from the industry. Additional improvements in the environmental performance of aircraft requires significant investment into developing cleaner engines, better fuels, lighter materials and enhanced navigation schemes such as SESAR. Instead, the ETS enables the national governments that administer the scheme to spend the funds collected in any way they see fit. The ETS does state that the funds should be used for environmental projects but imposes no requirement on member states to do so. In fact, the government in the United Kingdom has already indicated that the money collected will probably be added to general revenue. According to Eric Mandemaker: “Only one conclusion can be arrived at, CO2 credit payments are nothing less than a common tax.” His comments are reflected in a statement released by the Association of European Airlines (AEA) which represents commercial carriers in the EU. In the statement, Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, AEA Secretary General is blunt: “ETS is supposed to be an environmental measure [to set] an upper limit to total emissions. Instead it has been turned into a multi-billion euro cash dispenser for national exchequers. This comes on top of the proliferation of so-called green levies and duties which common sense tells us should be dismantled when ETS comes into force.”
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Application The ETS will only apply to flights that take-off or land in the 27 member states of the EU. Movements in Switzerland and Norway, which have remained outside the block, will not be taxed. Neither will operators in developing countries that emit less than 10,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. Effectively this means they will be exempt from ETS compliance. The EBAA believes that, in its current form, the ETS will shift traffic outside the EU, endangering thousands of jobs in Europe. “EBAA has always held the position that we accept our social responsibilities. Naturally all nations in the world should apply the same rules to aircraft operators; clearly this is not the case,” says Mandemaker. “The European parliamentarians have voted for a law that will hurt only those whom
they represent. It will open the floodgates to unfair competition, carbon and economic leakage, and shows an overall disregard for European economic growth, of which business aviation is one of the successful engines.” Emissions will be calculated on the full length of any flight into or out of the EU. For example, emissions on a flight from New York to Shannon, Ireland will be calculated on the full 5,000 kilometres of the flight, although Shannon is located just 20 kilometres inside EU airspace. Enforcement of the regulations is also an issue. While the European Parliament has approved the new scheme, it is up to member states to incorporate the rules into their national legislation. Technically member states have one
year to do this, however, the record of some member states on enacting EU legislation is very poor indeed. It remains to be seen whether the rules will be implemented in all member states and to what extent they will be enforced in each country.
What’s Next? The EBAA plans to continue lobbying the EU to ensure that business aircraft operators are treated fairly. Who knows if it will succeed, but Eric Mandemaker remains confident: “Missing a target does happen; but not shooting again is an admission of defeat. The EU ETS is such a case in point.” While EBAA is disappointed in the current situation it remains hopeful that common sense might prevail in the end.
Dassault Falcon 2000LX
About the ETS Launched in January 2005, the EU ETS is the world’s largest company level “cap-and-trade” system for trading in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2). While domestic aviation was already covered by the Kyoto Protocol and therefore included in the ETS, international flights have been exempt until now.
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Core Drivers GE Aviation’s CT7 / T-700
New engine technologies are the key to corporate aviation’s success. Liz Moscrop reports.
With green issues at the forefront of today’s business strategies, engine manufacturers are hard pushed to create products that both power the airframe and that are environmentally friendly. Fortunately the pursuit of these objectives is giving rise to innovative new technologies. Key issues for manufacturers are to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and substantially lower engine purchase and operating costs. The knock-on effect is to prolong the life of
the engine, thus saving on maintenance and ultimately producing less waste. Improved combustion is also beneficial (that is, how an engine burns fuel and recycles its by-products of heat and emissions). Capturing heat from an engine’s exhaust chambers and recycling it through compressors reuses a great deal of heat and energy, rather than simply throwing it out into the environment.
The knock-on effect is to prolong the life of the engine
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New 10K Engines Four of the main players: Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC), Rolls Royce and Snecma are working on new 44.5 kN thrust (10,000 lb) engines (known in the industry as 10K-class engines), suitable for super midsize business jets. Rolls Royce has signed with the French airframer Dassault to produce the powerplant for its new frame in a research project dubbed the RB 282. Rolls Royce remains tightlipped on details, however, it is likely that the new engine will feature technology from their Vision 10 advanced development programme, which will include a forward-swept fan and an allnew core. The engine is being designed in Germany and will be assembled in the US in a new facility in Virginia, due to open at the end of 2009. Cessna opted for P&WC to power its Citation Columbus with the 40.0 kN thrust (9,000 lb) PW810, the first engine in the new PW10X family. The engine’s new Talon combustion system is set to deliver 39.3 kN (8,830 lb) of thrust and exceed ICAO emissions standards by up to 50% for nitrous oxide (NOx) and 35% for carbon monoxide. The maiden flight for the PW810 is expected in 2009. The engine will be based on the same core as P&WC’s new geared turbofan (GTF), being developed for the regional jet market. The GTF will power the Mitsubishi Regional Jet and Bombardier C Series and feature an all-new core. The Canadian OEM paired with Germany’s MTU, which took a 15% stake in the GTF and PWX10 business jet engine development programmes in December last year. MTU predicts sales of 4,000 engines in the PWX10 thrust class.
Rolls Royce is equally bullish and estimates that the 10K market will be worth at least $40 billion (€26.6 billion) over the next 20 years. All manufacturers will be expected to meet the latest performance standards on emissions, noise and fuel burn. These include a minimum 15% improvement in fuel burn compared to current business jet engines in this class, a 50% reduction in the level of nitrogen oxides (a limit set by the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection - CAEP 6) and a cut in noise emission of between 20 and 25 decibels. Honeywell and Snecma have yet to find launch customers for their engines. However, Snecma says that it is “very confident and optimistic” that it will find a customer for its Silvercrest engine. Honeywell’s 10K engine, named the HTF10000, is based on its existing HTF7000 engine but the new version will have a longer life.
Snecma Silvercrest business jet engine
Improvements to Existing Engines There are several exciting developments taking place on powerplants already in service. Boeing’s 737 has relied solely on CFM International’s CFM56 engine for more than 25 years. The engine is also an option on Airbus A320 series. The high bypass CFM567B engine was designed for the Boeing
There are several exciting developments taking place on powerplants already in service
Business Jet (BBJ) and incorporates many features such as a single-stage high pressure turbine, which translates into longer life, lower weight and operating costs. The efficiency of the blades has been improved in the advanced -7 family, which has lead to a reduction in specific fuel consumption of 3%. The engine also incorporates FADEC, a double annular combustor and improved internal design. Thanks to the CFM’s new Tech Insertion technology, all new CFM56 engines will be as much as 25% below the 2008 CAEP 6 requirement for NOx emissions. In July 2008, CFMI launched the LEAP-X, an entirely new engine to power future replacements for current narrow-body and business aircraft. The first full demonstrator engine is scheduled to run in 2012, and LEAP-X could be certified by 2016. The new powerplant is said to reduce the engine contribution to aircraft fuel burn by up to 16% compared to current CFM56 Tech Insertion engines. General Electric (GE) produces several models for the business aviation market. Its CF34-3B is the offspring of GM’s rugged, combat-proven TF34, which powers the US Air Force A-10 and US Navy S-3A. It also powers Bombardier’s Challenger family of aircraft, the 601/604, 605 and 850. GE is so committed to the engine, that it has invested more than $1 billion (€0.66 billion) over the last decade. Since its service entry in 1983 on the Challenger 601 corporate jet, the CF34 has earned a reputation as one of the cleanest, quietest, and most fuel-efficient engines in its class.
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The HF120 looks set to change the shape of the lighter end of the market. Produced by GE Honda, a 50/50 joint venture between GE and Japanese car maker Honda, the HF120 will fly the HA-420 HondaJet and Spectrum’s S-40 Freedom. It borrows technology adapted from GE’s GEnx engine (used on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner). The advanced 8.9 kN thrust (2,000 lb) class turbofan incorporates wide high-flow fan blades and high temperature materials, designed to enhance payload, range and engine life. It should also produce a high thrust-to-weight ratio and low fuel burn. GE Honda estimates a market for as many as 200 units annually. In addition to its new 10K offering Honeywell has long experience in the business aircraft market. The HTF7000 was designed with input from the world’s leading operators and aircraft manufacturers. The aim was to develop a powerful turbofan engine with half the number of parts and a 30% lower cost of ownership. At 100,000 flight hours, the HTF7000 turbofan engine exceeded expectations for reliability, durability and maintainability. The design has simplified access to the engine and significantly decreased maintenance time. Key line-replaceable units can easily be changed in 20 minutes or less. The engine powers Bombardier’s Challenger 300. The HTF7500E will fly Embraer’s new Legacy 450 and 500 family. The engine will use Honeywell’s proprietary SABER technologies, a package of advanced combustor technologies that includes improved fuel burn and reduced NOx, carbon monoxide, unburned fuel emissions and smoke. The engine will also feature weight reductions achieved through design changes and material
substitutions including use of composites and titanium alloys. Carl Esposito, Honeywell’s Vice President, Sales and Service, Europe, Middle East and Africa says: “We are delivering a propulsion system that will incorporate the newest technologies while building on a proven design that is delivering a benchmark level of reliability in this thrust class.” Honeywell’s TFE731 turbofan engine family is the first in its stable to offer remote diagnostics through their new Zing intelligent monitoring network. Designed to deliver up to 22.2 kN of takeoff thrust (5,000) and integrated nacelle and thrust reverser systems, the TFE731-50 is a derivative of the current TFE731-60 engine which powers the Dassault Falcon 900DX. The engine design provides significantly increased operating temperature margins over its predecessors, resulting in improved durability. According to United Technologies, P&WC’s PT6 is the most popular turboprop aircraft engine in history, having accumulated more than 215 million operating hours. It is produced in a wide variety of models, covering the power range between 580 and 920 shaft horsepower (shp) in the original series, and up to 1,940 shp in the large line. The PT6C-67 is the latest variant and incorporates a single and multistage compressor and reverse flow annular combustor. The series powers the Bell Agusta BA609 Tiltrotor and the AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter. The company’s PW200 is also a popular model, powering helicopters such as the Eurocopter EC135 and AgustaWestland’s AW109. The PW200 offers a great deal of flexibility since the engine requires no cool-down period, and has some field-replaceable components.
Business Jet Solutions For business jet operators, P&WC’s PW300 family is a series of advanced high by-pass ratio turbofan engines in the 20.0 to 35.6 kN thrust (4,500 to 8,000 lb) range, designed for clean, quiet and low cost of operations. The series offers competitive fuel efficiency and optimum thrust-to-weight ratio. The engine powers a number of business aircraft including Bombardier’s Learjet 60XR, Cessna’s Citation Sovereign, Dassault’s Falcon 7X and the Gulfstream G200, as well as Hawker Beechcraft’s Hawker 1000 and 4000 jets. Pratt and Whitney’s PW500 advanced high bypass ratio turbofan engine in the 13.3 to 20.0 kN thrust (3,000 to 4,500 lb) range is specifically designed for quiet operations, fuel efficiency and high productivity benefits to corporate jet operators. The engine is built around a common core that covers a large thrust range to allow for new aircraft development and technologies. It powers several Cessna Citation aircraft, including the Bravo, Excel, XLS, and the Encore +. The PW600 was designed specifically for very light jets. All engines in this family have FADEC and few components. The key drivers for this new engine series were defined as low cost of ownership and operating economics without compromising reliability, performance or durability. The PW615F-A powers Cessna’s Citation Mustang, while its sister engines, the PW610F-A and the PW617F, drive the Eclipse 500 twinjet and Embraer’s Phenom 100 respectively. Epic has also selected the PW600 family for its Victory VLJ.
The PW600 was designed specifically for very light jets
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Rolls Royce supplies all the major business jet manufacturers with powerplants and has a 34% market share with 3,000 aircraft using their engines worldwide. The Rolls Royce Tay 611-8 powers Gulfstream’s business jets and boasts levels of noise and emissions well below those required by current regulations. An improved version of the engine has been selected to power the next generation of GIV aircraft. Changes include the incorporation of a FADEC control system. The company’s AE3007 engine powers the world’s fastest in-service business jet, the Cessna Citation X. The BR700 family has an engine core that is suitable for high cyclic operation for thrusts between 62.3 kN (14,000 lb) and 102.3 kN (23,000 lb). The core incorporates a ten-stage compressor, a low-emission annular combustor with 20 fuel burners and a two-stage shrouded high-pressure turbine. All stages are optimised to keep noise to a minimum. The BR700 is fitted on the Gulfstream G500 and G550, Bombardier’s Global Express and Global 5000.
Rolls Royce also collaborated with Williams International to create the FJ44, a small two-shaft turbofan designed to power light business jets and training aircraft. Compact and lightweight, the FJ44 brings the smoothness and economy of the turbofan to a sector of the aviation market previously served solely by turboprops. It drives the Hawker Beechcraft Premier I aircraft, Sino Swearingen’s SJ30-2, and Cessna’s Citation CJ2. Williams’ advanced, very light FJ33 fanjet expands the options available to airframe manufacturers by providing an engine sized to power a whole new class of affordable light jets in the 22.2 to 40.0 kN (5,000 to 9,000 lb) class. It has an excellent thrust-to-weight ratio, fuel efficiency, and low acquisition and operating costs. The FJ33 fanjet family incorporates technological advances developed under its FJ44 programs such as low-noise, and third-generation wide-sweep fan technology coupled with advanced high-efficiency core components.
Clean Sky Initiative While there is no doubt that designers are making huge strides forward in developing existing technologies, corporate aviation will also benefit from Clean Sky’s Sustainable and Green Engines Integrated Technology Demonstrator (See Clean Skies Ahead, p. 52). The programme aims to design, build and test up to five full-scale engine demonstrators relevant to several aircraft and will receive around €421 million ($640 million) of funding from a 50-50 funding partnership between the European Commission and industry. The initial focus for the demonstrators is on open-rotor prop fans, such as Rolls Royce’s counter-rotating blades that rotate at completely different speeds compared with the two-shaft core. Rolls Royce will consider other configurations including pusher (with the blades at the back), and tractor (with blades at the front). However, there will inevitably be a trade-off between noise and CO2 emissions. It will be fascinating to watch the story unfurl.
Jargon Buster
Bypass ratio
The ratio between the mass flow rate of air drawn in by the fan that bypasses the engine’s core to the mass flow rate passing through the engine’s core. A high bypass ratio gives a lower exhaust speed, which reduces the specific fuel consumption, but reduces speed, giving a heavier engine.
Combustor
The combustor is where fuel burn takes place. In a gas turbine engine, the main combustor or combustion chamber is fed high pressure air by the compression system and the hot exhaust flows into the turbine components of the gas generator. Combustors are designed to contain and control the burning fuel-air mixture. Annular combustors are embedded deep within the engine’s casing.
Core
Every gas turbine engine has a combustion section, a compressor and a turbine, collectively named the core. The core is also referred to as the gas generator since the output of the core is hot exhaust gas.
FADEC
A Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system consists of a digital computer that controls all aspects of aircraft engine performance. FADEC provides for efficient engine operation and enables the manufacturer to programme engine limitations and receive engine health and maintenance reports.
Specific fuel consumption
The mass of fuel needed to provide the specific net thrust for a given period.
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Meet the Learjet 85 by Jack Carroll
“You’re really going to get a kick in the pants from the Learjet 85 when it rockets you up to 12,500 metres (41,000 feet) in less than 18 minutes. You won’t fi nd a business jet that can do that, except for another Learjet.” Brad Nolen, Product Planning Director, Bombardier Business Jets.
For a number of years Bombardier has been looking to develop a new aircraft for existing Learjet 45 and 60 operators – over 700 now – who want more cabin space and overall capability. The company’s designers spent a few years exploring alternatives including using the Learjet 45 wing with a larger fuselage, or maybe lengthening the Learjet 60 and adding modified Learjet 45 wings. But the solution was to forget about existing components, what Brad Nolen calls “building blocks”, and go with a clean-sheet design and all-composite construction. Welcome the Learjet 85. This is a first for Bombardier Business Aircraft and it will also be the first all-composite business jet designed for FAA type certification under the stringent provisions of FAR Part 25. “The Learjet 85 is designed to compete at the upper end of the mid-size class,” says Nolen. “And no exaggeration, it will come out ahead in all areas, such as speed, time-to-climb, range and cabin volume. In fact, our cabin is 18% larger, and the Learjet 85 is significantly faster, than our nearest competitor, saving about 45 minutes on a typical New York to Los Angeles flight.”
We shall see what happens when the reality of flight testing begins, but Bombardier’s design and engineering teams haven’t missed yet.
Composite Onboard Bombardier will design and manufacture all primary and secondary structures for the all-composite Learjet 85 business jet, which will feature proven low-pressure, low-temperature composite technology. “The use of composites opens lots of design possibilities,” says Nolen. “A designer has an infinite number of options, such as complex curves, without adding exponentially to the number of parts required. And while there are many ways to apply composites, ours are built up in a precision mould.” All primary structures of the Learjet 85 are composite, including the wing, fuselage and empennage. As Nolen points out: “The vertical fin is an integral part of the fuselage mould. This maximises strength and minimises the number of parts. There are two moulds, a left and a right, combining fuselage and tail fin. After the carbon fibre has cured, the moulds are mated together using a proven process to maximise strength in the joint area.”
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The Proven Ingredient The many benefits of carbon fibre construction over traditional aluminium includes faultlessly smooth surfaces which mean less drag and improved performance, an impressive strength-to- weight ratio, reduced maintenance, maximum usable cabin space (no design-intrusive metal ribs), reduced maintenance and far fewer structural parts. All with little chance of corrosion or fatigue damage, as occurs with aluminium. Production of the composite structures will take place at Bombardier’s facility in Querétaro, Mexico. The electrical harness will be produced at Querétaro, which will also handle installation of sub-assembly systems. Final assembly, interior completions, flight-testing and customer deliveries will all happen at Bombardier’s Wichita, Kansas facility.
Top Suppliers Selected Bombardier worked with Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) for many years to develop the most fuel-efficient engine for the Learjet 60 platform. So it was no surprise that the company chose P&WC and its PW307B engines, each rated at 27.1 kN (6,100 pounds) of takeoff thrust. The PW307B features a full complement of advanced technologies including a TALON low-emissions combustor, an advanced shock management fan for increased flow capacity and high-pressure turbine disks for improved efficiency. All that technology contributes to lower fuel consumption, CFO-pleasing operating economics, greatly reduced emission levels and low noise. In fact, Pratt & Whitney Canada claims its PW307B turbofan engine has the least impact
on the environment of any engine in its class. The engine produces over 30% less nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions than is recommended in the current International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards. Learjet 85 operators will also avoid landing fee surcharges as the PW307B also meets the tough Zurich 5 emission requirements. By any standard of measurement, P&WC’s new engine is indeed a “green” machine, with all systems go to push the high performance Learjet 85 to its projected high-speed cruise of Mach .82 and transcontinental range of 3,000 nautical miles (5,556 km). Up in the cockpit, pilots will be treated to the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics suite, to lighten their workloads and maximise safety. Brad Nolen makes the point that Pro Line Fusion has been thoroughly proven as a key component of Bombardier’s Global Vision flight deck. Launched in September 2007, Pro Line Fusion is Rockwell Collins’ most advanced avionics suite, featuring three hiresolution 38 cm (15.1 inch) LCD displays, synthetic enhanced vision for increased peace of mind in poor weather, advanced human-machine interface including graphical flight display planning, Integrated Flight Information System (IFIS) with electronic charts, and dual advanced flight management systems. Pro Line Fusion also includes electronic checklists linked to the Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System (EICAS) and integrated circuit breaker control. Now all the crew has to do is fly the plane. For pilots these features mean smooth flying, situational awareness, fuel management and, most important, safety.
Flexjet to Receive First 85s in 2012 As of 31 July 2008, Bombardier had announced 45 firm orders and 90 letters of intent for the Learjet 85. Among the firm orders are six from ExecuJet Aviation Group and 11 from VistaJet, both based in Switzerland, and five from London Air Services of Canada. As for scheduled certification and first deliveries, Brad Nolen tells us: “Certification should take place in 2012 when first deliveries begin to Flexjet. As a fractional programme, aircraft in the Flexjet fleet are subject to extremely high utilisation, so you might say that it is an excellent proving ground for the Learjet 85. It will allow us to make any adjustments necessary. “As the first batch goes to Flexjet, we’ll slow down the production line so we can make small changes as needed, so they are incorporated when first deliveries begin to external customers in 2013. We followed that plan for the Challenger 300 and Learjet 60XR and it worked out very well for us. In any event, we don’t expect any problems. We tend to operate with a low-risk philosophy here and design aircraft around proven systems. For example, the PW307B was proven on the Falcon 7X, while the Pro Line Fusion avionics suite is very similar to the one we’re using on the next generation Global Express.“ When asked if Bombardier foresees a larger Learjet at some point in the future, Nolen responded carefully: “There is nothing planned at present. If a Learjet 85 operator decided at some point that they needed a larger aircraft with more range, I’d say that the Challenger 300 is the closest Bombardier family member. With a wider fuselage and about a 300 nautical mile (345 km) range advantage it would be a smooth and logical transition for a Learjet 85 customer.” So what will the newest Learjet set you back? “Right now the Learjet 85 is priced at approximately $20 M (€13.28 M) but, of course, that can change at any time,” says Nolen. A word to the wise: Bombardier Business Aircraft is now accepting deposits.
Learjet 85 interior
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Clean Skies Ahead by Taunya Renson-Martin Airframe manufacturers such as Dassault Aviation, Airbus, AgustaWestland and Eurocopter are among over 100 organisations from 16 countries who have signed on as members of Europe’s Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) for greener aviation. Clean Sky is one of Europe’s largest research endeavours, with a dedicated budget of €1.6 billion ($2.4 billion). This joint initiative of the European Union and the aeronautics industry aims to improve the environmental performance and competitiveness of the region’s aeronautics industry by encouraging manufacturers to develop and produce greener products. Concretely, its objectives are to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 40% and nitrogen oxide (NOx) by 60%. The programme also aims to reduce noise by 50%. It is hoped that these advances can be made in time for a major fleet renewal in 2015. “The challenges that stand before us, such as boosting international competitiveness and tackling climate change, are common to all European countries,” said European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik. “We stand a better chance of making a difference if we work together. This is the basic logic behind the Clean Sky JTI.”
Major Players Involved The project is a public-private partnership, bringing together all the major aeronautical players in Europe as well as small to medium size enterprises, research centres and universities. The European Commission will provide €800 million ($1.2 billion) in funding, and industry is expected to match this amount. “European Commission studies show that the aviation industry accounts for 4% of annual greenhouse gas emissions in Europe,” commented Commissioner Potocnik. (It is important to note here that business aviation accounts for only 0.04% of all EU emissions.) “Clean Sky will make the best use of both public and private resources to develop cleaner and quieter aircraft, with spillover benefits in many other areas of science like materials, computer simulations and energy management.”
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“The aerospace industry is highly aware of its environmental responsibilities and over the last few decades has contributed to a drastic reduction in both emissions and noise. Today with traffic expected to keep growing, Clean Sky is paving the way for a new major step in this ongoing process,” said Marc Ventre, Chairman of the Clean Sky Provisional Executive Committee and CEO of the Aerospace Propulsion Division of SAFRAN.
Integrated Technology Demonstrators As Bruno Stoufflet, Director of Future Planning and Scientific Strategy at Dassault Aviation, explained on our recent visit to the business aircraft manufacturer’s St Cloud headquarters in France, groups called Integrated Technology Demonstrators (ITDs) have been established to carry out preliminary studies and large-scale demonstrations in six key areas. The aim is to develop green technologies to the level where they can be applied to the next generation of aircraft. The SMART fixed-wing aircraft ITD will develop active wing technologies that sense airflow and adapt their shape as needed. The Green Regional Aircraft ITD will focus on low-weight configurations and technologies, as well as the integration of technology developed in other ITDs. Developing innovative rotor blades and decreasing airframe drag are among the priorities for the Green Rotorcraft ITD. Meanwhile, the Sustainable and Green Engine ITD will work on technologies aimed at lowering noise levels, decreasing NOx emissions and improving efficiency.
for ‘green’ trajectories and improved ground operations. Finally the Eco-Design ITD will address the full life cycle of material and components, with an emphasis on optimising the use of raw materials, and decreasing the usage of natural resources and energy.
Dassault Gets Involved Dassault will be active in EcoDesign, the SMART fixed wing aircraft ITD and the Systems for Green Operations ITD. On his expectations for the Eco-Design ITD, Stoufflet said: “We expect to develop both new materials and new systems that are more sustainable.” Since the initiative’s official launch in February, programme members have provided the Commission with a technical description of the work to be executed. The work itself should start between October and December of this year, estimates Stoufflet. “What has to be stressed is all the major players have been able to set up a cooperative programme focused on several ground and flight demonstrations,” said Stoufflet. “Without the demonstrators, we would not be able to validate certain technologies. If we want to be able to tackle [sustainability] objectives, we cannot rely on conventional technologies. We must propose disruptive concepts in terms of propulsive integration, engine, aircraft control and aerodynamics. So for a company like Dassault, this programme represents a major breakthrough for the preparation of the next generation of aircraft.” A technology evaluator will be responsible for assessing the contribution of the six ITDs to the overall environmental objectives of the project.
Informed Customer Base The Systems for Green Operations ITD will focus on aircraft equipment and systems architectures, capabilities
Dassault, like other business aircraft manufacturers, is well aware of the growing pressure to prove the environ-
mentally friendliness of their products and manufacturing methods. As Stoufflet explained: “We began a campaign five years ago, before fuel costs increased and environmental concerns became popular, to minimise fuel consumption on Falcon aircraft. Today, on average, our planes are burning 30 to 40% less fuel than our competitors. “But we of course note that more and more of our customers are asking questions about what we are developing in the future in terms of green aircraft and they want to have arguments to say that they’ve chosen the greenest product. [Sustainability] is a business issue now. That was not the case in the past.” Cessna too is answering the call of its customers. Earlier this year, the US-based company established the Cessna Environmental Strategy Council to assess its impact on the environment and create initiatives to minimise that impact. “We are looking at boosting our efforts in recycling – both personal and industrial – conserving energy, aircraft operations and aircraft design,” Cessna Chairman, President and CEO Jack Pelton said. Cessna is coordinating with US-based industry and government groups, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). But initiatives like those outlined above will not happen in a vacuum on separate sides of the pond. Transnational cooperation can be expected as well. “It’s vital that we work closely with our European partners on these issues,” AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey said. “This will lead to continued progress on improvements in ethics, airspace modernisation programmes, the environment, and other important matters.”
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Composite or Metal: Which is Greener? by Tim Kern, CAM
Both materials require substantial heat and electricity for production and recycling
As society becomes more concerned and responsible about our use and disposal of resources, aircraft are coming under closer and closer scrutiny. FlyCorporate Europe looks at the green credentials of aluminium and carbon ďŹ bre, the contender to the title of material of choice in aircraft construction. Tim Kernâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guide is drawn from a number of experts in research, engineering and marketing.
Each manufactured item goes through some basic phases during its lifecycle. For the purposes of this article we have condensed these into four rough
phases: production of the raw materials, design and manufacture, operation (or use), and disposal.
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Raw Material Production Aluminium is extracted from bauxite, more than half of which is mined in Australia, China and Brazil. The Australian aluminium industry is the world’s largest producer of bauxite and the world’s leading producer of smelter grade alumina. According to a 2006 report by the Australian Aluminium Council there is 2.6 tonnes of CO2-equivalent produced per tonne of metal. Increasingly, recycled aluminium is entering the supply chain which may reduce this figure in the future. Composite cloth is woven from yarns which comprise thin strands of carbon fibre. The fibre is made of about 90% burned polyacrylonitrile tempered with about 10% of either petroleum extract or rayon. Carbon fibre structures are created from the woven cloth which is impregnated with a resin made up of various plastic derivations, nearly all of them depending on petroleum as a major component. It is difficult to get an accurate picture of the CO2-equivalent produced per tonne of carbon fibre, but some estimates put the figure around 25% lower than aluminium. Both materials require substantial heat and electricity for production and recycling.
Design and Manufacture Design is one area where carbon fibre certainly demonstrates an advantage. Carbon fibre allows virtually unlimited and therefore aerodynamically-optimised shapes to be made. Mark Shuart, Ph.D., is Senior Advisor for Composites and Structures at NASA (Langley) and he believes the designer’s goal is the same whether you’re designing a launch vehicle or a business jet. He phrased it in NASA-speak: “‘Dollars per pound into orbit’ drives us always to reduce weight. If you get enough of that [weight savings], you can resize the
ship.” Lighter aircraft need smaller engines, use fewer resources and create less pollution in manufacture, operation, and disposal. How can composites be better for a designer than metals? “A good way to characterise the properties of composites would be to say they have enhanced stiffness in certain directions,” Shuart says. “Most metals are isotropic – their strength properties are the same, regardless of the direction of stress. That’s not so with composites; these can be much stronger and stiffer in one direction than another.” The question of whether we have the ability to optimise carbon fibre design was brought up by Barnaby Wainfan, an aerodynamicist who’s worked on the US Navy/sb Northrop-Grumman X-47B unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAV) programme. “There are probably fewer than 100 aerodynamicists in the world at the level required to fully exploit the advantages of composite construction.” Many engineers and their teachers, he says, are limited by “thinking of metal shapes in carbon,” though engineering practice is slowly catching up to the promise of the material. Austin Blue, President of Spectrum Aeronautical LLC, whose composite bizjets, the S-33 and S-40, use a proprietary process to reduce weight throughout their structure, says of composites: “There need to be improvements in how they’re worked before they will take the title completely away from aluminium. Composites are still the challenger. That composites have taken the lead in piston aircraft is remarkable. It is also remarkable that composite use is growing so well in business and commercial aircraft. The 787 hasn’t been an easy transition to make, even for Boeing, after so many years of building aluminium airplanes. It means they see the future is in carbon fibre.”
Blue also notes: “The structural approach and manufacturing approach have to go together. They’re even more fundamental than the aerodynamic approach. Looking at our airplanes, they’re really fairly conventional T-tails. Manufacturing is the best place to start, if you want to make a new and different airplane.” Shuart largely agrees, noting that with composite construction, it’s not usually the large surfaces where designers have trouble exploiting advantages. “Joints are a big issue. One of the problems is that loads often come from many different directions into a joint – so these seem to be perfect settings for an isotropic material. But when you mix metals like aluminium with graphite-epoxy, there are some things you need to watch – galvanic corrosion, for instance. We are increasing our understanding of what works well with composite joints. Textile pre-forms, for instance, can be very effective [at traditional joint locations]. “Another important thing that drives costs in manufacturing is parts count. Boeing is essentially making a full barrel fuselage, rather than building one up from riveted panels, stiffeners, bulkheads. If you can make all these parts at once, and come up with creative ways to attach things, you can cut the parts count and drive down manufacturing costs.” Mike Van Staagen, Vice President of the Advanced Development Group at Cirrus Design and engineering coleader on the Vision (SR50 personal jet), thinks that some great opportunities of composite construction are apparent already. “From a designer’s point of view, we can make anything. There are just no boundaries on the shapes we can make, though some of the hardest-to-make parts look the simplest.”
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According to Shuart: “A good example [of the acceptance and ascendancy of composite structures] would be the 787 fuselage. There is no way that Boeing would bet the company on technology that they thought was overly risky. There’s always risk with technology, but you manage that risk.”
Van Staagen concedes that damage detection, especially hidden and fatigue damage, is still more art than science, but says: “We are learning about damage. We’ve bought back overstressed aircraft and we’ve taken them apart to see what happened. How do you inspect without destroying the part? That’s the current Holy Grail.”
Operation Lighter structures use less fuel for any given level of performance than heavier structures. Some structures can be more efficiently designed in metal; many shapes can be improved in composites. Though carbon fibre structures are theoretically significantly stronger, the requirement to attach brackets, stiffeners, or other components to such cloth structures can add more weight than is saved through the use of the composite material. Dr Shuart says: “Even though the numbers aren’t as good in practice as in theory, composite structures are approximately 20% lighter than aluminium structures. In large structures, like the Boeing 787, composite structures are probably even cheaper than aluminium designs.” If carbon fibre structures can be made lighter than equivalent aluminium structures, and can also be made in more aerodynamic shapes, carbon fibre aircraft should be able to do more work with less fuel, lowering the direct footprint of each aircraft. But… operation also involves inspection and repair. Shuart notes: “The big problem so far with composites is what we call damage tolerance, but second-generation thermosetting epoxies have proven to be very damage tolerant.”
Various operating costs revolve to a greater or lesser extent around nonflying operations. Insurance underwriters, for example, are likelier to understand the risks and costs associated with repairing aluminium structures. (Advantage: aluminium.) Fuel costs for a lower-drag, lighter, composite machine should be lower (favouring composites). Operating costs are hard to accurately quantify, and the relative costs of one machine over another can also vary according to the actual missions and relative employment of the aircraft during its in-air service. The costs of basic materials for both aluminium and carbon fibre components are highly volatile. Aluminium prices have risen precipitously in recent years, even if the rise has been moreor-less predictable. Carbon fibre’s pricing is yet more volatile. Blue explains there are two major factors pushing these costs skyward: “Cost factors of carbon fibre are indeed impacted by petroleum prices. There’s also a lot more demand, so costs have trended up. But I think that, fundamentally, the fact of higher oil prices means that there’s more incentive for people to seek lighter, more efficient airplanes.
That will drive people to composites. It should make more people anxious to see what they can develop.”
Disposal When it comes to the end of an aircraft’s life, metal structures still hold a considerable edge. However, many composites are becoming increasingly recoverable and some resins can even be heated and re-used. Alan Klapmeier, co-founder of Cirrus Design says: “It’s probably always going to be easier to dispose of an aluminium airplane than a composite airplane. We haven’t really explored what will happen to these aircraft at end-of-life, they are at the beginning of their lives.” “We [the industry] have not yet faced the situation of having to discard high numbers of large composite structures,” says Van Staagen. However, he doesn’t believe that the future looks so bad. He is confident that, when the time comes, a lot of options will be ready.
So, Which is Better? Austin Blue’s direct answer is: “I have to sit on the fence. It depends. Each has its own advantages. Metal has done a great job for many decades and has a lot of properties that make it good for airplanes. Composites show promise because of their physical properties, but there is a lot to do to realise that promise in terms of making better airplanes.”
The costs of basic materials for both aluminium and carbon fibre components are highly volatile
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The Largest Footprint? For the purposes of this article we attempted to quantify the carbon footprint of both carbon fibre and aluminium. While information for aluminium is reasonably well reported, it is extremely difficult to obtain good data about the greenhouse gases emitted during the production of carbon fibre. The main reason for this is that there are so many different variables in the manufacturing process. The type of resin, curing method, number of layers of cloth, thread count and even thread composition all
affect the level of emissions. Design criteria such as angles of stresses, load areas, and weights also have an impact. We also attempted to compare the strength of a square metre of carbon fibre cloth and a square metre of aluminium used as a skin for the bottom of a wing panel. It sounds straightforward but a wing skin designed in one material will be expected to do a different job than a wing skin designed in another. In aluminium sheet, for example, it may merely present a smooth surface, covering ribs and spars. In a composite
In large structures, like the Boeing 787, composite structures are probably even cheaper than aluminium designs
cloth it may also carry load. They may look the same, but their different jobs mesh with their different properties. The calculations are daunting, even in the simplest example. The bottom line is that it is almost impossible, without getting extremely specific, to do a scientifically unbiased comparison, and that relevant data themselves are impossible to define. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what makes the question such an interesting one, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why aerodynamic, structural and chemical engineers make the big bucks!
Boeing 787
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Helicopters and the Environment by Rod Simpson
Sikorsky S-76C++
The irritating beat of rotor blades is guaranteed to generate complaints and protests
Medical experts agree that hospitalisation within an hour of an accident or medical emergency is critical to a patientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life expectations. Little wonder that there has been an explosive growth in the number of helicopters used, and in the publicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s praise for emergency medical services (EMS) teams who perform these miracles. Similarly, the police helicopter which tracks down a criminal, leading to an arrest, gains the enthusiastic approval of law-abiding citizens. However, for those who are not aware of the drama going on in the sky above them, the perception is rather different. The irritating beat of rotor blades passing overhead on a tranquil summer afternoon is guaranteed to generate complaints from citizens and protests from environmental campaigners.
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Noise Assessments Helicopter manufacturers and operators are under immense pressure to lower engine emissions and to reduce noise. With a constantly increasing helicopter fleet, the perceived problem is only likely to grow. From a regulatory standpoint, manufacturers of helicopters going through type certification approval have to add a complex series of noise assessments to the normal airworthiness testing. The assessments cover many aspects of flight including take-off, cruising flight and landing approach. The 5th Aviation Environmental Protection Meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), held in 2001, raised the barriers and imposed new noise standards for all new helicopters gaining type certificates after March 2002. These stringent rules, referred to as Annex 16 or ICAO16, set maximum noise levels in various segments of flight. For light helicopters they typically require an improvement of 4 EPNdB (Effective Perceived Noise in Decibels) compared with the noise level permitted under the previous regime.
Grandfather Rights Helicopters certified prior to 2002 continue to be governed by the older, more liberal rules. Helicopter manufacturers have made every attempt to use “grandfather rights” to develop new machines on the back of existing type certificates. A good example is the Eurocopter EC130 which is, technically, a variant of the Ecureuil (Squirrel) but has a wider fuselage, the landing gear of the EC120 and a tail Fenestron in place of the standard Squirrel tail rotor. The Bell 407, which has a completely new four-bladed rotor system and other
important changes, still qualifies as a variant of the Jet Ranger which was originally approved under the rules pertaining in 1964. So, why do helicopters generate noise and what emissions do they contribute? And, most importantly, what is being done to make them more environmentally friendly? Not surprisingly, helicopters face some important challenges that fixed wing aircraft do not experience. In common with fixed wing aircraft, they do generate engine noise. However, turbine engines have markedly reduced the noise signature of modern helicopters and, since the powerplants are largely mounted on top of the fuselage, engine noise tends to be directed upwards. With these changes in design the internal cabin vibration and noise of the modern helicopter is much more passenger-friendly than that of older models, which had engines buried in the fuselage and transmission tunnels passing through the cabin. Engine noise is not the big issue. The principal sources of noise are the main and tail rotor blades and that give some helicopters their very distinctive, and irritating, noise signatures. The Vietnam-era Bell Huey could be heard from some distance due to the unmistakable “whop-whop” of its massive two-blade main rotor system. The high-speed rotor of the early Hughes 500 could be heard well before its egg-shaped fuselage buzzed into view. Rotor noise is largely created at the tips of the rotor blades which are moving at very high (often supersonic) speeds. It is also common to get noise from
the interaction of the blade tip with the air vortex shed by the previous blade moving through the same air mass. Of course, the helicopter is operating in climb, descent and cruise modes which each put a different loading on the blades and create distinct changes in the noise pattern. The shape and size of the rotor blade will also determine the character of the noise pattern that is created.
Main Rotor Design In the past thirty years, there have been considerable changes in main rotor design. Since the introduction of the Bell 47 (used in the Korean War and made famous in the MASH TV-series) helicopters have tended to use two-bladed all-metal rotors with increasingly broad chord as the size of the helicopter increased. The advent of glass and carbon fibre technology has allowed designers to create more efficient aerodynamic blades and rotor systems. Aérospatiale’s amazingly successful Alouette light helicopter relied on a highly complex rotor head and twoblade structure which used mechanical rods and bearings to achieve pitch control - but it was not quiet or maintenance free. In 1974, Aérospatiale flew the prototype AS350 Ecureuil which used the new Starflex semi-rigid rotor head. This was much simpler with only 70 components, was more streamlined with more efficient airflow characteristics and required much less servicing. Importantly, the Starflex head, combined with three composite blades, resulted in much- reduced vibration and external noise - and a comfortably quiet cabin for the six occupants.
Helicopters certified prior to 2002 continue to be governed by the older, more liberal rules
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In subsequent development of the AS350 (and its twin-engine derivative, the AS355) improvements to the blades and engine modifications reduced rotation speeds with a consequent reduction in tip noise. When it developed the EC130, Eurocopter made further progress by inventing a two-speed rotor system that enabled the rotor revolutions to be reduced substantially in cruise mode. This resulted in noise levels which are up to 8 EPNdB better than the ICAO16 rules require. For the sightseeing operators in Nevada’s Grand Canyon and Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, who were launch customers for the EC130, this was a major bonus in their battle with nagging environmental criticism. Another notable development programme carried out by Westland Helicopters (now AgustaWestland) was the BERP blade designed for the Lynx military helicopter. This blade has a varying aerofoil section and reducing thickness from the root to the tip. The tip itself is bulged with a sweptback profile. The result was reduced compressibility and drag on the blade which is advancing. Westland found that this complex design greatly improved the helicopter’s useful load and made it fly faster - but they also discovered
Bell 407
that it lowered blade noise. The design techniques developed during this programme have gone on to influence other helicopters such as the Sikorsky S-76C++ and the S-92.
Tail Rotor Changes At the back end of the helicopter, the anti-torque rotor generates a surprising amount of noise but design changes in this area have resulted in a significant contribution to sound reduction. Driven by the dangers of tail rotors striking obstacles which were outside the pilot’s field of vision (with generally fatal consequences) Aérospatiale and MD Helicopters produced alternative stabilisation which had the secondary effect of reducing noise. Aérospatiale’s original Fenestron was fitted to the second prototype SA.340 experimental helicopter which first flew in 1968, and it later became a feature of the military Gazelle which was delivered in large numbers to the French, British and many other air forces. In its original form the Fenestron was mounted on a tailfin which contained a circular cut-out to enclose a 13-blade fan. This acted as a propeller to direct the rear of the helicopter in counter action to the torque of the main rotor but the large number of blades and their enclosure in the shrouded fin resulted in considerable noise benefits.
Eurocopter (the successor to Aérospatiale) has since applied the Fenestron to other helicopters including the EC120, EC130, EC135 and AS365N Dauphin. They have made further improvements to the latest version of the Fenestron. It now has an asymmetric arrangement of the static and rotating blades resulting in an even lower noise signature. However, there is a limit to the available tail rotor authority of the Fenestron and larger helicopters, such as the AS332L and EC225 Super Pumas, still require large conventional 4-blade units. Another approach emerged in the United States where McDonnell Douglas, which had acquired the Model 500 helicopter line designed by Hughes, was also concerned with replacing existing tail rotors with an anti-torque design that would improve safety. In the mid-1980s they invented the NOTAR (No Tail Rotor) which completely eliminated the requirement for moving tail blades. The system involved replacement of the existing tail boom with a larger constant-section tubular boom into which was ducted pressurised air from the helicopter’s main powerplant. This airflow was ejected sideways through a controllable nozzle at the end of the boom to give torque control. The first McDonnell Douglas model to use this
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system was the MD520N (based on the MD520K) and the same system was later applied to the MD600N and the larger MD Explorer. While safety considerations were the primary purpose, the NOTAR arrangement substantially changed and reduced the type of noise emitted by these helicopters.
Environmental Considerations There is no denying that environmental impact is high in the minds of the helicopter manufacturers who are actively seeking even quieter outcomes. AgustaWestland and Eurocopter are co-leaders of the Green Rotorcraft Integrated Technology Demonstration (ITD), one of six ITDs that make up the EUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative. It aims to develop breakthrough technologies and advanced helicopter configurations to reduce noise and achieve greener operations, including improvements in emissions and fuel consumption. The research programmes now underway include work on intelligent rotor blades with built-in sensors to actuate conformable blade shapes and tip variability. There is ongoing investigation into the use of diesel engines in rotorcraft and the partners are looking at better rotor-head design including conformable fairings to reduce drag and noise. There will also be specific studies into the noise characteristics of tilt-rotor aircraft such as the BA609, specifically investigating the implications of tilting wing and
nacelle angles. The research group will try to develop new anti-torque systems for helicopters generally, to achieve environmental and economic benefits.
Better Operating Procedures While the helicopter manufacturers may be in the spotlight and under pressure to comply with new regulations, the operators can make a major contribution to better public acceptance by adopting better procedures. Again, the Clean Sky ITD is working on methods of creating environmentally friendly flight paths using satellite navigation guidance. They hope to minimise noise by optimising departure and approach paths and have a target of reducing noise footprints by up to 50% from present levels. In general, helicopter users are critically aware that unless they fly their aircraft sensitively, particularly in the arrival and departure phases, they will create huge problems for themselves. Already, there are many pressure groups, worldwide, poised to establish punitive national and local regulations â&#x20AC;&#x201C; particularly in Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s national parks and where hospital and corporate helipads are located in city centres. For offshore oil support, the impact of overflights from shore to platform is less of an issue. However, police and emergency medical helicopters must go into heavily populated areas and operational imperatives often have to overrule public sensitivity.
The priorities for public service helicopter operators are hovering performance, speed in reaching the target location and load carrying. Since budgets are always tight, there is a temptation to keep older helicopters in service and, in the United States particularly, many police, EMS, heavy lift and fire control users continue to fly aircraft such as the Bell UH-1 which have been released from military service. Bell has invested substantial research funds into finding ways of retrofitting existing helicopters with better rotor blades and tail systems, although these modifications are not yet available. Through initiatives promoted by organisations such as the Helicopter Association International (HAI), European Helicopter Association, British Helicopter Advisory Board (BHAB) and the National Aerospace Laboratory in the Netherlands (through their Friend-Copter programme), most operators now adhere to quiet flying techniques. Guidelines given to pilots by BHAB include climbing as fast as possible and cruising as high as possible to reduce the projected noise at ground level, avoiding populated areas, controlling banking angles which can cause a rise in the noise signature, not delaying landings and not straying from acknowledged routes. Through adherence to these procedures and the work being promoted by the manufacturers, it is to be hoped that the environmental impact of helicopters can be minimised, to the benefit of the public and operators everywhere.
Most operators now adhere to quiet flying techniques BERP blade
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Agusta’s AW139
There have been huge changes in corporate helicopters in the past two decades. Today the choice is enormous and helicopters are quieter, more comfortable and faster than ever. Rod Simpson checks out the performance and the environmental credentials of AgustaWestland’s AW139.
There have been huge changes in corporate helicopters in the past two decades
The compact Bell 407, derived from the Jet Ranger, still sells quite well to business users. But the really serious transportation comes in larger packages, from the Eurocopter EC135 up to the Sikorsky S76++ – and even, for Heads of State, the Sikorsky S92, Eurocopter EC225 – and the mighty EH101-VIP. What all these have in common is that design technology has made them more efficient and has gradually improved their emissions output. Most significantly it has also lowered their environmental noise impact.
One of the helicopters at the forefront of modern design is AgustaWestland’s AW139, which currently enjoys a rapidly expanding order book and is at the upper end of the corporate market. It competes with machines such as the Eurocopter EC155 and the Sikorsky S76++. This medium twin-turbine helicopter has turned out to be one of the industry’s major success stories with nearly 400 sold to date and customers in more than 40 countries.
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Advanced Rotor Reduces Noise Because of its clean-sheet design, AgustaWestland was able to engineer the AW139 for maximum performance and use the most advanced technologies to ensure the aircraft adheres to environmental standards. This means that the aircraft is very quiet. The noise output of 89.6 decibels (dB) on overflight, 90.4 dB on take-off and 92.7 dB on the landing approach, all at maximum weight, is well below the requirements of ICAO Annex 16. This has been largely achieved through clever design of the main and tail rotors. The main rotor is a five-blade unit with hydraulic damping and elastometric bearings. The blade design has borrowed much of its technology from other pioneering research at AgustaWestland. The individual blades have a complex shape which thickens in the centre section and ends with a swept tip. Similarly, the four-blade articulated tail rotor, which is mounted on a tail pylon well out of the way of anyone standing on the ground, is canted and, again, designed with angled tips to the individual blades for noise damping.
Much of the innovative structure of the AW139 has only been achieved through use of composite materials. This is particularly true for the rotor blades which could not be fabricated into complex shapes using traditional metal components. The AW139 is of mixed construction and, again, there are efficiency (and environmental) advantages to the strength and weight saving of these components, particularly in reducing airframe vibration. The overall result is that the AW139 is very quiet, both for those on the ground and internally. The rotor system produces very low vibration levels and reduced fatigue for passengers and crew.
International Production The AW139 started life as one of the two products from a joint venture between Bell Helicopter Textron and Agusta. Formerly designated AB139, it came under Agustaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s technical leadership. In November 2005 Bell retired from the project and the helicopter became AgustaWestlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sole property as series production got under way. Full development of the AB139 had been launched at the Farnborough Air Show in September 1998 and Agusta flew the first prototype on 3 February 2001 at its factory at Cascina Costa near Milan, Italy. The flight test programme involved
Building the AW139 is a matter of international collaboration
three aircraft, all of which had flown by October 2001. The AW139 was certificated in Italy in June 2003 and received its FAA type certificate under FAR Part 29 in late December 2004, by which time the production line was already well established. Building the AW139 is a matter of international collaboration and, even at the prototype stage, primary manufacture of the airframe was contracted to PZL Swidnik at their plant near Lublin, Poland. AgustaWestland is the largest customer for this Polish factory, contributing around 30% of their turnover. PZL also builds airframes for the AW119Ke, AW109 Power and Grand and the AW109LUH. They delivered the 200th AW139 to AgustaWestland in June 2008. A second source production-line has been established with TAI in Turkey. Final assembly and completion of the AW139 takes place in Italy at Vergiate and there is another completion line in Philadelphia for aircraft destined for North American customers. In a recent announcement, the company has also revealed an agreement with Oboronprom under which the Russian manufacturer will assemble AW139s for the CIS market with an initial target of 24 aircraft annually.
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Versatility and Space From the outset, this 6-ton class helicopter was expected to fulfil many roles including passenger transport, offshore support, medevac work, search and rescue, cargo lift, fire fighting and a whole range of military applications. What makes the AW139 so versatile is its huge open-box main cabin which measures 2.7 metres long, 2 metres wide and 1.4 metres high (8.86 ft long, 6.56 ft wide and 4.59 ft long). Both competing models from Eurocopter and Sikorsky have smaller dimensions. However, despite the size of the centre section structure, the aircraft still manages to have an elegant appearance. The main cabin has full-length sliding plug-in doors on both sides and there are forward-hinged doors on either side of the two-seat cockpit. The AW139
also has a very large baggage compartment in the rear fuselage with access doors on both sides and provision for it to open into the main cabin to handle oversize freight. In comparison with the other medium helicopters in this category, the AW139 is more expensive with a price in the region of $12 M (â&#x201A;Ź7.97M) for the executive-configuration version, depending on equipment. However, it is significantly more powerful than either the S-76 or the EC155. The AW139 uses a pair of 1,679 shaft horsepower (shp) Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6C-67C, which give it more than a 50% power advantage. At 6,800 kg (14,991 lb) gross weight, the AW139 is considerably heavier than its competitors. It has a much higher useful load that is expected to be further improved by 400 kg
(882 lb) through a current development programme to make the AW139 even more productive. With its substantial power-to-weight ratio advantage, the AW139 also scores with a maximum cruising speed of 167 knots (compared with 144 knots for the EC155). The aircraft has an operating ceiling of just under 6,096 metres (20,000 ft), as opposed to 4,572 metres (15,000 ft) for its competitors, and a rate of climb of 652 metres a minute (2,140 ft/minute) which is nearly twice that of the EC155. As a consequence, nearly a quarter of AW139 sales have been to the Middle East where the aircraftâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s excellent hot and high performance and good one-engine-out capability (which allows take-offs at maximum gross weight) has given it a significant competitive advantage.
This 6-ton class helicopter was expected to fulfil many roles
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Diverse Applications The launch customer for the AW139 was Bristow Helicopters, a major provider of helicopter services to the oil industry. A third of orders to date have been for the offshore oil support sector. Typically, offshore operators will fly 12 workers on 300 nm stages or up to 500 nm with six passengers. AgustaWestland is in the process of developing a full icingprotection system to enable the AW139 to meet the FAR Part 29 requirement for flight into known icing. Testing with an airborne tanker was completed during the winter of 2007/8. In a completely different field, the AW139 has a military application. The Irish Government has ordered six examples which are to be operated by the 301 Squadron of the Irish Air Corps in multiple roles including troop transport, search and rescue and medical evacuation. The Qatar Emiri Air Force have placed a large $392 M (€260 M) order for 18 AW139s to be employed on homeland security, search and rescue, troop transport and law enforcement. The helicopter also has a growing reputation with emergency medical services (EMS) and search and rescue (SAR) operators. Early in the aircraft’s development it was selected as the helicopter of choice for the United States Coastguard’s Deepwater project, replacing a Eurocopter Dolphin. Although that purchase has been shelved for lack of funding, the AW139’s SAR variant has been selected by the Korean and Italian coastguards and by the Japanese Coastguard which took delivery of its first three aircraft in March 2008. These helicopters are the first of a replacement order covering up to 24 existing aircraft.
Similarly, the Spanish marine agency, Sasemar, has ordered eight AW139s, three of which are already operating from bases at Tenerife, Gijon and Reus. These are equipped for SAR and water pollution patrol and are fitted with a SAR-enabled four-axis autopilot, emergency flotation system, a FLIR camera for infrared and thermal imaging, search and weather radar and a dual rescue hoist. Yet another utility application is envisaged by the Korean Government’s Gangwon Fire Fighting Department which will use its AW139 for fire emergencies. The aircraft will be fitted with a belly-mounted tank and a bambi-bucket system for this purpose. The Department will also use their AW139 for emergency medical work and have the option of 12-passenger or VIP transport seating. The AW139 is notable for being the first helicopter to use the Honeywell Primus Epic integrated glass cockpit, which is also fitted to upper-range business jets such as the Citation Sovereign and Hawker 4000. It comes in four possible packages - a basic VFR system, threeaxis and four-axis automatic flight control systems and a specialised version linked for search and rescue.
Around ten percent of the AW139s sold to date are for the corporate market
Corporate Buyers Around ten percent of the AW139s sold to date are for the corporate market and several different furnishing layouts can be provided with a mixture of seating and entertainment or refreshment cabinetry. In the five/seven seat version the cabin, which is well illuminated with three large windows on each side, has three fully articulating seats facing forward from the rear bulkhead and two, three or four aft-facing seats positioned behind the cockpit divider. In this form, the cabin provides ample legroom and a very calm business environment. Since the cabin floor is fitted with centre seat row attachment points, additional chairs can be mounted in the centre of the cabin. AgustaWestland has a growing list of company and governmental users of the VIP version of the AW139 and we expect demand from this sector to grow rapidly as customers realise the attributes of this remarkable helicopter.
AW139 low-noise tail rotor
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Recycling A New Approach by Olivier Constant
While commercial aircraft dismantling has attracted strong interest from Airbus and Boeing, business aircraft recycling is still at an early stage. FlyCorporate looks at current efforts to minimise the environmental impact of the dismantling process in commercial airliner recycling, and how the lessons Airbus and Boeing have learnt can be applied to business jets.
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An estimated 6,500 commercial aircraft are due to end service, and be dismantled, over the next twenty years. For business aircraft the numbers are much lower and a surge in retirements is not expected for a number of years yet. The first business jets built in the 1960s, such as the Falcon 20, early Learjets, or the Citation 1, will probably come out of service beginning in 2010. However, the peak period for retirements is not expected before 2020. That still gives business aircraft manufacturers plenty of time to organise the recycling of their jets as Airbus and Boeing have done for commercial aircraft. Like commercial airliners, most business aircraft are dismantled in the USA although France is playing an increasingly important role. The planes are broken up outside or in hangars, depending on the size of the aircraft. But with current practices, only 80 to 85% of an aircraft (by weight) can be recycled. Many abandoned aircraft around the world are dismantled without any consideration for the environment.
This practice can lead to water table contamination and even contamination of the air with particles of asbestos.
Airbus Adopts PAMELA There are currently no governmental guidelines for the recycling or disassembly of commercial, business or military aircraft. Because of this, Airbus launched its Process for Advanced Management of End-of-Life of Aircraft (PAMELA) project in March 2005. PAMELA aims to define a dismantling process for aircraft at the end of their life. The project received support from the European Commission’s l’Instrument Financier pour l’Environnement (LIFE) programme and has now become the European standard. PAMELA was used for the first time in February 2006 on an Airbus A300B2. The dismantling was conducted at Tarbes Airport in France and took almost one year. The first two phases involved decontaminating the aircraft and removing the reusable parts as per the Part 145 regulation. (Part 145 ensures that the reused components are certified as airworthy and can be traced.)
The biggest contribution of PAMELA to the recycling process has been the establishment of a map of aircraft parts that can be recycled. This enables recyclers to treat the aircraft as a series of homogeneous zones. Currently around 80% of parts are recycled but Airbus hopes this will rise to at least 95% by 2015. A new company, Tarmac Aerosave, was launched in June 2008 as an outcome of the PAMELA project. The company claims it is the first in the world to specialise in the deconstruction of aircraft. It will continue recycling work on civilian and military aircraft at Tarbes Airport. Tarmac is an abbreviation of Tarbes Advanced Recycling and Maintenance Aircraft Company and is a partnership between Airbus, SITA France (waste management subsidiary of SUEZ), Snecma Services (a subsidiary of Safran Group which specialises in aircraft engine maintenance), Equip’Aéro, TASC aviation (an Airbus subsidiary based in Dubaï that trades in aircraft parts), and Aéroconseil (specialists in aeronautical engineering and systems).
With current practices, only 80 to 85% of an aircraft can be recycled
66 MAGAZINE
Boeing Creates AFRA
Disposal Begins at Châteauroux
Boeing and ten other companies joined together to create the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association (AFRA) in early 2006. The Association aims to draw attention to the safe and environmentally responsible management of the world’s aging aircraft fleet and acts as a forum to establish and test best practices. AFRA membership is open to: “…aerospace industry companies that are involved in the efficient and environmentally sound handling of the world’s aging aircraft.”
Three of AFRA’s founding members Châteauroux Air Center, Bartin Recycling Group and Europe Aviation – come from France, placing that country at the forefront of aircraft recycling technology. The companies have joined together to establish an aircraft recycling facility at Châteauroux Air Center. The facility was launched in June 2005 and received ISO 14001 certification in July 2008.
Some of AFRA’s efforts focus on the safe and environmentally responsible return of engines and parts to the world’s aircraft fleet and the safe return of reclaimed materials back into commercial manufacturing. The Association now has over 30 members around the world.
The 10,000 m2 (107,600 square feet) dismantling field consists of a concrete slab that is based on a watertight geomembrane. Any liquids that escape during the recycling process are gathered by a collection system equipped with a hydrocarbon separator.
The aircraft is first stripped of its engines, landing gear and avionics parts. Of these the avionics parts are the most valuable, especially if they are relatively recent. Staff then remove and treat the sub-assemblies. The cabin lining and floor structure are removed, dismantled and sorted to recover the different materials used in their construction. The last steps in the process involve feeding the remaining parts into a mechanical shredder fitted with extremely strong shears. The shredded material is sorted using a number of recovery processes including air and flotation separation. Approximately 80% of the metals in an aircraft are recovered using this process. It takes around two months to completely disassemble a Boeing 747.
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Eco-Design Manufacturers are also turning their research and technology efforts towards designing new aircraft with recycling in mind. Bombardier includes end-of-life recycling considerations in the design of new transport solutions in its Design for Environment (DfE) programme. As part of its commitment to the European Commissionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Clean Sky initiative, Dassault Aviation has become a leading partner in the end-of-life phase of the Eco-Design for Airframe (EDA) project. The EDA project covers four techni-
cal areas including new materials and architectures, clean manufacturing, long-life structures and end-of-life management. Dassault is working with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, a German institute that undertakes applied research of direct usefulness to private and public enterprise and of wide benefit to society. The overall goal of the end-of-life study is to develop a method of dismantling aircraft that has an optimal environmental impact, especially regarding the use of resources such as air, water and
soil. A structured waste management approach will be chosen to remanufacture, re-use, recover, or recycle all materials and components in the most environmentally sound way. The replacement of hydraulics in small airplanes with electrical (or fly-bywire) systems is a major evolution in terms of the environmentally friendly maintenance and disposal of this type of aircraft. These systems also have the benefit of providing better power efficiency and fuel consumption during the life of the plane.
Approximately 80% of the metals in an aircraft are recovered
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REACH
Low Demand
New rules, which will affect the disposal of aircraft, have recently come into force in the European Union. The Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) legislation aims to improve human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances.
European business aircraft owners could find the local green disposal solutions offered by companies such as Tarmac Aerosave and Bartin Aero Recycling/Europe Aviation very attractive for a number of reasons. Cost is one. To send a large aircraft such as a Boeing 747 to the USA for recycling costs around €100,000 ($150,000) and storage at European airfields is extremely expensive due to lack of space.
“Applied to industry, REACH imposes requirements for increased traceability and guarantees that there are no harmful materials, such as chromium and lead, in the 15 to 20% of waste that cannot be recycled,” explains Patrick Parnis, Marketing Director for Dassault Aviation. “To ease the task of the companies in charge of recycling aircraft, we will establish a map of our aircraft that they can use. This will avoid them having to establish their own cartography of our planes. This is a long-term process but will enable better recycling of parts from our aircraft.”
However, the market for business aircraft recycling remains small at the moment. Tarmac Aerosave will dismantle its first commercial aircraft beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008. The company expects to recycle 30 to 40 aircraft per year. However, it has no business aircraft scheduled for disposal in the near future. “The market is extremely marginal in quantitative terms but there will be a demand for business aircraft disposal which will arise within a few years. We will handle them using the same process we apply to larger aircraft except for the layout. We estimate that it would take around six weeks to dismantle an executive Airbus A310,” says Philippe Fournadet, President of Tarmac Aerosave.
Currently there are few legislative constraints on aircraft recycling
Bartin Aero Recycling is in the same waiting position although it is interested in recycling six Mystere 20s held in storage by the French Air Force at Châteaudun. Aerostock, based at Le Bourget near Paris, ended its recycling activities several years ago due to lack of demand. The company only handled three to four aircraft per year for this purpose. Aerostock ceased aircraft disposal when it stopped its maintenance activities to concentrate on sales of used parts and aircraft. Currently there are few legislative constraints on aircraft recycling. The good news is that the aerospace industry has shown a willingness to work together to develop better practices that are less damaging to the environment. “Good work doesn’t cost more than bad work. We hope that the recommendations from our industrial experience will be used by authorities as the basis for future regulation,” says Martin Fraissignes, Executive Director of AFRA. Fraissignes is also determined to get more companies on board: “We are keen to enlarge our geographical coverage to Asia, the Middle East and Africa and to represent all aircraft manufacturers, including the business jet makers.”
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Areas to be covered by the Clean Sky Eco-Design for Airframe project
65 to 75%:
The percentage of an aircraft’s weight that is metal. This is made up of: • 85% aluminium alloys (mainly structure). • 10% high-tech steel (used in landing gear and controls). • 3% titanium (master parts). • 2% copper (wiring).
25 to 35%:
Percentage of an aircraft’s weight that is non-metal. This includes wood (floors and finishes), plastics (insulation, wire coatings), rubber (tyres and seals), and glass.
€150/metric ton:
The value of an aircraft after avionics are removed and the aircraft is decontaminated.
Source: Bartin Aero Recycling
POWERING YOUR COMMUNICATIONS www.machmedia.be info@machmedia.be | +32 9 243 60 11
70 MAGAZINE
The Wright Brothers Changed History, Will the Solar Impulse? by Jeff Apter
On 17 December 1903 the Wright Brothers fl ew the Flyer 1, an engine-powered machine that was heavier than air, for the ďŹ rst time. At that moment it would have seemed inconceivable that one day there might be a light aircraft that could fl y day and night around the world powered only by the sun. Today, a team of technologists and scientists are working on the Solar Impulse project that in 2011 will circumnavigate the world without fuel or emissions in a descendent of Flyer 1.
One day a light aircraft could fly day & night solar powered
Orville Wright was belly-down at the controls of Flyer 1 while his brother Wilbur ran alongside. The inaugural flight, from a sand dune near Kitty Hawk, an isolated fishing village in North Carolina, lasted a mere 12 seconds and covered just 37 metres (120 feet) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a little more than half the wingspan of a Boeing 747-400. A few hours and a few tests later Wilber flew for 59 seconds proving that sustained, controlled flight was possible.
After he landed, a gust of wind blew away their handmade aircraft causing so much damage that the 272 kg (600 lb) plane with its 12 m (40 ft) wingspan never flew again. Undeterred, the owners of the Wright Cycle Co. continued their efforts. During the following two years improved planes were developed culminating in flights in Dayton, Ohio and Paris. Their aircraft reached 35 km/hour (40 mph) and stayed in the air for 30 minutes.
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In 1909 they formed the Wright Co and opened one of the world’s first aircraft manufacturing plants. A century later a team at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) – the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology – is undertaking a revolutionary project aimed at producing a one-seat, long-range aircraft that can take-off autonomously and is able to remain airborne and circumnavigate the world without any fuel, propelling itself solely by means of the energy collected from solar cells mounted on its wings. Solar Impulse is promoted by the renowned psychiatrist and balloon enthusiast, Bertrand Piccard. The work is being carried out by a team of experts and advisers from EPFL, the European Space Agency and Dassault with the backing of several major companies.
Solar Cells as Wing Surfaces Making such an aircraft calls on the most advanced technologies and stimulates scientific research in the fields of composite structures and energy production and storage. The Solar Impulse engineers were faced with the task of developing an aircraft in which everything is new: the aerodynamics, structure, construction methods, form of propulsion, and area of flight. The team has launched research initiatives, optimised each component and sought innovative solutions to complex questions in every sector including how to build a pilotable structure of this size with such a light weight while striking a balance between stability and manoeuvrability.
The solar panels act as both energy generators and wing surfaces. The challenge of creating panels that are flexible enough for flight conditions but that will not break when they encounter turbulence has been significant. Only an aircraft that is exceptionally large (its wingspan is similar to that of an Airbus A340), yet light can fly sufficiently slowly (70 km/h or 44 mph on average) to remain airborne with the energy available to the Solar Impulse. In some ways it resembles a heavy aircraft, and in others, like wing loading, it is more like a paraglider or hangglider. Square metre for square metre, its structure has to be eight times lighter than the best glider available today.
The solar panels act as both energy generators and wing surfaces
Solar Impulse HB-SIA prototype airplane
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To attain such a wingspan with the necessary rigidity, lightness and flight controllability is a challenge that to date has never been met. Solar Impulse is constructed around a skeleton of carbon-fibre honeycomb composite using a sandwich structure. The undersides of the wings are covered with flexible film while the upper surface is covered by a skin of encapsulated solar cells. One hundred and twenty carbon fibre ribs placed at 50 cm (1.64 feet) intervals profile the two layers and give the body its aerodynamic shape. Under the wings are four pods, each of which contains a motor, a polymer lithium battery consisting of 70 accumulators and a management system controlling battery charge, discharge and temperature.
Test Flights Begin 2009 EPFL’s Solar Impulse project began in 2003 with a feasibility study. The concept was further developed in 2004-2005. Virtual flights in real weather conditions began in early 2005 at Belgium’s Royal
Solar Impulse HB-SIA prototype airplane/Airbus A340
Institute of Meteorology in Brussels while simulation tests started at Geneva airport in 2007. The tests have enabled the team to evaluate the aircraft’s energy resources to determine if the Solar Impulse can fly through a whole night and come back into the sun next morning in order to continue its mission. To do so generally means following a tortuous flight path to avoid cloudy zones on the trajectory. The aircraft will gain altitude during the day and descend during the night, thereby conserving a large amount of the energy in its batteries. The maximum and minimum altitudes still need to be defined in terms of security parameters and meteorology. A complete feasibility analysis of the airplane and the security of the missions is being carried out to identify the weak points, risks and redundancies, and find solutions that will guarantee the success of the real missions. To validate the selected technologies the team began to manufacture a prototype equipped with a nonpressurised cabin in June 2007.
The prototype has been designated the HB-SIA. For the first mission tests, the test pilots will take over the controls of the airplane to examine its flight characteristics. It will then be a question of demonstrating the feasibility of the night flight with a solar airplane. Prototype test flights are earmarked for 2008 and 2009 with construction of the final plane scheduled for 2009 and 2010. Test flights will take place in 2009 with the aim of carrying out a 36 hour zerofuel flight, equivalent to a complete day-night-day cycle – the first time that an aircraft of this type will make a night flight with a pilot on board. This first airplane is intended to check the working hypothesis in practice and to validate the selected technologies and construction processes. A second aircraft will be developed once the initial tests are complete. Several daytime missions will end with the cross-Atlantic trials and circumnavigation of the globe in five stages.
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Maximum Endurance
Flying Solar at Night
The circumnavigation attempt is scheduled for May 2011. The flight will take place over land close to the equator, essentially in the northern hemisphere. The five stops are necessary to change pilots as each leg will last three to four days – considered to be the maximum a single pilot can endure. Once the efficiency of the batteries is improved, allowing a reduction in weight, the airplane could seat two pilots for very long flights. At that stage a non-stop, round-the-world flight could be envisaged.
The greatest challenge before the round-the-world trip will be the first complete night flight. One difficulty is that the energy gathered during the day will not only serve to propel the plane, but also to recharge the lithium batteries in the wings to ensure they can be controlled. It is essential that the pilot approaches each night with full batteries and economises the maximum available energy so they are able to stay in the air until the next sunrise. For the solar panels, the day begins late and finishes early. Pilots will only be able to count on about eight hours of usable light per day.
This is a rough prototype aircraft even though it has been designed using the latest and most sophisticated technologies. Its maximum altitude is intentionally limited to 8,500 metres (27,887 ft) to avoid the additional weight required for a pressurised cabin and to reduce instrumentation to the bare minimum. This is the team’s first approach to optimising the relationship between energy consumption, weight, performance and controllability. It is not intended to travel around the world, nor is it configured to do so. The objectives of Solar Impulse are to validate the results of the computer simulations, the technological choices and the construction technologies, and to test an unexplored area of flight.
The thermal insulation has been designed to conserve the heat radiated by the batteries and keep them functioning despite the -40° C (-40° F) temperatures encountered at the aircraft’s maximum altitude. Each motor has a maximum power of 10 horsepower (h.p.).
The amount of energy generated on earth averages out at just 250 watts/ m2 over 24 hours. With 200 m2 of photovoltaic cells generating electricity during the day, and a 12% total efficiency of the propulsion chain, the plane’s motors achieve no more than 8 h.p. or 6 kW – roughly the amount of power the Wright brothers had available to them when they made their first powered flight in 1903. A countdown will begin each evening when the sun goes down. The pilot will know exactly when the sun will be available again to feed the plane’s cells and they will be hoping they reach that moment before the batteries empty themselves completely. While we may not see a solar powered business jet within our lifetimes, who can tell? One hundred years ago, could the Wright brothers have imagined that anyone would even try? One thing is for certain, some of the technologies that are developed for the Solar Impulse are certain to make their way into the aircraft that we fly in the future.
At midday on a sunny day, each square metre of land on earth receives the equivalent of 1,000 watts, or 1.3 h.p. of light power. The lower the sun is on the horizon, the less efficient are its rays.
Pilots will only be able to count on about eight hours of usable light per day
Comparing the Solar Impulse to an Airbus A340-600 Solar Impulse
Airbus A340-600
Wingspan:
61.00 m
200 ft
63.45 m
208 ft 2 inches
Weight (empty):
1,500 kg
3,307 lb
177.8 tonnes
392,000 lb
Maximum altitude:
8,500 m
27,887 ft
12,525 m
41,100 ft
14,646 km
7,900 nm
Range:
Only limited by battery capacity.
74 MAGAZINE
Landings: Moscow
by the FlyCorporate Editorial Team
Moscow is witnessing a real business aviation boom. It is home to no less than three general aviation airports: Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo. All three airports provide designated VIP lounges for their corporate travellers.
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Vnukovo
Domodedovo
Sheremetyevo
Vnukovo, the airport closest to Moscow and with the highest elevation, handles up to 70% of Russia’s business aviation traffic and has the most extensive facilities to support corporate aircraft operations. A complete airport renovation plan is now being implemented and will be finally completed in 2015. Russia’s third largest airport in terms of passenger traffic, Vnukovo transported more than 6.8 million passengers in 2007. Nearly 140,000 passengers made use of the business aviation terminal, Vnukovo-3.
Domodedovo International Airport is Russia’s largest, handling 18.8 million passengers in 2007. Passenger numbers continue to grow with a 26.5% increase in May and 15.2% in June compared to the same months of 2007. The airport is the hub for many scheduled foreign carriers operating services to Moscow. Domodedovo has two concrete runways, one of 3,800 m (12,467 ft) and the other 3,500 m (11,483 ft) and operates 24 hours a day.
In 2007 Sheremetyevo handled 14.0 million passengers (a 10% increase over 2006) and 117,044 tonnes of cargo. The airport acts as the main hub for Russia’s national flag carrier, Aeroflot. Sheremetyevo has three terminals. Flights to cities in Russia and charter flights currently arrive and depart from Sheremetyevo-1, however, this terminal is due to be refurbished as a dedicated terminal for business jets. The airport has two concrete runways measuring 3,700 m (12,139 ft) and 3,500 m (11,647 ft).
Vnukovo Airport has two runways, one is 3,000 metres (9,842 feet) long while the other is 3,060 metres (10,039 feet). The airport can accommodate up to B737s and 757s and there is a heliport available. Vnukovo is open 24 hours a day.
A complete airport renovation plan for Vnukovo Airport is now being implemented and will be finally completed in 2015
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FBOs Vnukovo
Vipport
For business jets, Vipport is the sole ground handler at Vnukovo. Jet Aviation offers some ground support services. A number of commercial handlers and agents are also available.
Vipport opened a new terminal at the end of 2006. The terminal contains six conference rooms, immigration and customs clearance and separate departure and arrival halls. Duty-free shopping is also available. The FBO also offers aircraft services including ground handling, line maintenance, hangarage, apron Operating hours 24 hours/7 days a week facilities, refueling and catering. Telephone +7 495 648 2800 Transportation and hotel accomEmail handling@vipport.ru modation can also be arranged for Web vipport.ru both passengers and crew.
Jet Aviation Switzerland-based Jet Aviation opened a new facility at Vnukovo in late 2007. The services offered include line maintenance, defect rectification and AOG services. Jet Aviation Moscow is an authorised service centre for the full range of Gulfstream aircraft and Bombardierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Challenger and Global business jet models. The company recently signed a service agreement with Cessna recently.
Operating hours Telephone Email Web
AOG - 24 hours/7days a week +7 495 662 1350 jvko@jetaviation.ru jetaviation.ru
Business Aviation Centre
Domodedovo Commercial handlers and agents are available at Domodedovo. There is one FBO at Domodedovo, the Business Aviation Centre.
Business Aviation Centre can provide most FBO services including aircraft parking, fuel, maintenance, and limousine transport to your jet. The FBO operates out of its own terminal that includes border and customs facilities, clearance of baggage and passengers connecting to scheduled services Operating hours 24 hours/7 days a week and duty-free shopping. Telephone +7 495 967 8212 Email
Sheremetyevo
Web
A number of handlers and agents are available at Sheremetyevo. The only FBO is operated by RusAero.
RusAero RusAero operates a full FBO service at Sheremetyevo as well as ground handling services for commercial aircraft. For business and VIP services RusAero offers overflight and landing clearances for both Russia and the CIS member states, coordination of slots, a VIP lounge for passengers and crew, ground transportation, mobile telephone rental, visa services, catering and aircraft servicing. RusAero also acts as an agent at Vnukovo Airport. Operating hours Telephone Email Web
24 hours/7 days a week +7 495 755 5600 ops@rusaero.aero rusaero.aero
info@bac-dmd.ru bac-dmd.ru (Russian only)
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Connections Vnukovo
Domodedovo
Sheremetyevo
Vnukovo Airport is situated 28 kilometres (17 miles) to the southwest of Moscow. There are a number of transportation options to take you to the city centre including taxi vans, limousines and conventional taxi services. There is also a high-speed rail network connection.
Domodedovo International Airport is located 22 km southeast of Moscow. The airport is connected to the city centre by the Domodedovo AirRail Service. Passengers flying on scheduled services that are part of the AirRail Service can check-in at a dedicated counter at Moscow’s Paveletsky railway station. Domodedovo also has highway access to Moscow and rail and bus services which link it to the city centre. Taxis and limousines are also available.
Sheremetyevo Airport is situated 29 kilometres north of Moscow. A new high-speed rail service opened in June 2008 connecting Sheremetyevo with central Moscow in around 30 minutes. Taxis, limousines, and buses are also available. The airport also contains a dedicated business aviation terminal.
Top Business Hotels Moscow’s position as a hub of international affairs is reflected in its vast choice of five-star accommodation. Here we select some of the best.
Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow This luxurious hotel is conveniently located within walking distance of the Bolshoi Theatre, the Kremlin, Red Square, the Duma (parliament) and the business district. When you have finished negotiating tough deals, step into the hotel’s exclusive spa and health club. 220 spacious guestrooms.
Baltschug Kempinski
Web
moscow.park.hyatt.com
Award-winning, deluxe, five-star hotel located on the banks of the Moskva River opposite the Kremlin. Situated in a relatively quiet part of the city, this historic hotel is a wise choice for those looking for some peace outside their busy work schedule. The Kempinski caters to business travellers with the highest standards and offers 230 superior rooms and suites with extraordinary views. Web
Golden Apple
kempinski-moscow.com
Moscow’s first, if not only, boutique hotel. A sophisticated address offering personalised business services and a health club. The 92 rooms and suites are each decorated in a unique style. Hard-working travellers will enjoy eating at the Apple Bar and Restaurant, famous for its experimental cuisine, mostly prepared using Golden Ring organic produce. The business traveller is no stranger to this modern hotel, located across from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Amenities include seven conference halls and a fully Web goldenapple.ru equipped business centre. The chauffeur-driven car service offers a convenient way to get to your Moscow appointments in comfort. The hotel boasts fabulous city views and the 293 luxury rooms include two presidential suites.
Katerina City
Web
hotel-goldenring.ru
Le Royal Meridien National
Located in Moscow’s business centre, the Katerina City is a favourite with European executives. A successful blend of old and new, this large, Swedish-designed hotel complex comprises a magnificently restored 19th building and a contemporary construction completed in 2000. The 120 elegant, sound-proofed rooms with silent air-conditioning are conducive to both working in private and to getting some well-deserved sleep.
Centrally located just off Red Square, The National has maintained its reputation as Moscow’s most elite place to stay, for over 100 years. Presidents, royalty and other celebrities are regularly seen amongst the clientele, attracted by the superior service and accommodation. The 216 rooms with views over the Kremlin include 37 antique suites – some featuring unique ceiling paintings. Web
national.ru
Web
katerina.msk.ru
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Top Conference Facilities In addition to the conference facilities offered by the majority of Moscow’s top hotels (including those listed here), there are two major conference centres in the city.
FC Picks for Power Lunch or Dinner There are hundreds of restaurants to choose from in Moscow with cuisines ranging from traditional Russian to sushi and everything in between. Here we list some of the city’s finest places to eat.
Crocus Congress Centre Crocus Congress Centre is located in one of Russia’s largest exhibition complexes - Crocus Expo. Comprising Crocus City Hall, a multifunction hall with 6,000 seats, as well as 49 conference halls, the Crocus Congress Centre is able to accommodate all types of business. Web
crocus-expo.ru
World Trade Centre – Congress Centre Congress Centre, located in the World Trade Centre Moscow, is a purposevenue operated by a highly efficient staff. Professionally equipped, it can be adapted for any kind of meeting. The 28 function halls, conference and meeting rooms are spread over two levels. The exhibition space totals 3,000 m2. Web
Bosco Café Bosco is situated in Moscow’s smart GUM shopping centre and boasts the only terrace on Red Square. This Italian restaurant offers a good selection of fine Italian wine and the best pasta in the city. Highly popular with locals and visitors alike, so a reservation is recommended, especially on Fridays and Saturdays. Web
CDL restaurant Recently renovated, CDL is the restaurant of the Russian Writers Club. Situated in a magnificent 19th century mansion, featuring authentic oak panelling and antique balustrades, CDL is reputed for its high quality Russian food and excellent service. Web
wtcmoscow.ru
bosco.ru
restorate.ru
Café des Artistes If you have time to squeeze some culture between your work commitments, then you can enjoy a pre- or post-show dinner at this restaurant located across from the Moscow Art Theatre. Alternatively try the generous daily three-course business lunch menu. Web
Savoy
Matreshka doll
artistico.ru
Café Pushkin Café Pushikin is a high-class restaurant in the city centre. Housing a library of antique books, telescopes and globes this establishment is famous for its aristocratic atmosphere and speciality Russian and French cuisine. Popular among the business elite, the restaurant is spread over three floors, each of which caters to different sized groups. Web
cafe-pushkin.ru (Russian only)
Carré Blanc Open since 2001, this renovated 19th Century mansion has been divided into several different areas: dining room, banquet room, bistro and bar. The restaurant also sports an outdoor terrace, which is highly frequented in the summer months. The discreet ambience and professional service makes this classy restaurant the ideal setting for a serious business engagement. Web carreblanc.ru
Galereya Galereya is a lively, contemporary restaurant open 24 hours a day. Delicious food is served in a buzzing atmosphere. FC Tip: Don’t be more than 20 minutes late for your reservation or your table will be cancelled automatically. Private parking facilities. Web
gallerycafe.ru
Rikyu Japanese food, sushi in particular, is all the rage in Moscow and this is one of the best Japanese restaurants in town. Rikyu has a swish modern interior and serves a good mix of traditional cuisine and new dishes. The sweet-toothed will appreciate the large dessert menu.
The Savoy Restaurant is where celebrities, politicians and corporate executives come to dine in style. The elaborate decor, designed to mirror the elegance of Versailles, provides a high-class setting for sampling the Russian and Web French culinary delights.
Web
savoy.ru
passportmagazine.ru
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FC Picks for a Post-Meeting Drink GQ Bar The best place in Moscow for wines and vodkas, GQ offers a sophisticated yet relaxed combination of bar, club and restaurant. A DJ plays at the bar while an Italian pianist entertains in the Mediterranean room. Web
Tatami Club Bar Located inside the exclusive Izumi Japanese Restaurant, the Tatami Club Bar provides each party with a private room complete with geisha who will entertain you and your guests with conversation, singing or dancing. Web
worldsbestbars.com
bar.gq.ru
Prado CafĂŠ A luxurious bar for the wealthy crowd. Enjoy a drink in the dimly-lit but plush surroundings. Be sure to dress up for the evening if you want to fit in with the Moscow elite. Web
Prado-cafe.ru (Russian only)
Be sure to dress up for the evening if you want to fit in with the Moscow elite
www. Landings: Moscow For more information and other Landings, visit: http://www.fly-corporate.com/content_landings.php
80 MAGAZINE
On the Horizon... • Business Aircraft Development Update • Buying Pre-owned Aircraft • Pilot Training • Landings: Washington DC
Don’t Miss Issue 4 of FC Europe Available February 6
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It was a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27 freeturbine engine that powered the Twin Otter aircraft on a South Pole rescue mission the world wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t soon forget. Sean Louttit, captain and chief pilot at Kenn Borek Air, rescued a man who was in dire need of treatment after developing a life-threatening illness while stationed in the frozen wilderness. His life depended on his rescue. And his rescue depended on our engines.
DO YOU USE YOUR AIRPLANE TO HELP YOUR BUSINESS SUCCEED? FINALLY, AN EVENT JUST FOR YOU!
Your Business. Your Airplane. Your Show. To address the unique challenges and needs of operators who rely on their GA airplanes to help their businesses succeed, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) has unveiled a new Light Business Airplane Exhibition & Conference (LBA2009). The event will take place from Thursday, March 12 through Saturday, March 14, 2009, in San Diego, CA.
The three-day event will showcase airplanes that can be flown single-pilot and provide invaluable information sessions, including a single-pilot Safety Standdown, tax seminars and a variety of panel discussions on topics generated by the operators themselves. Exhibitors from every aspect of light business airplane use will be featured in the award-winning San Diego Convention Center. And a Static Display of Aircraft with approximately 50 airplanes will be a mere minutes away at Landmark Aviation Services on San Diego International Airport.
For more information, visit www.nbaa.org/lba
82 MAGAZINE
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