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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 2629.PDF
HEADLINES SPACEFLIGHT Senate votes in favour of suborbital bill A surprising US Senate vote last week may finally clarify the Federal Aviation Administration's regulatory powers over manned suborbital vehicle launches, but the fledgling commercial space flight industry will press for further reforms, writes Stephen Trimble. "Now that the playing field is settled you can focus on how the game is played," says Jeff Greason, chief executive of Xcor Aerospace, which owns one of only two suborbital launch licences approved by the FAA's commercial space trans portation (AST) office. Scaled Composites holds the other for SpaceShipOne. Following the Senate's vote on 8 December, both Houses of Congress have now approved the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act, which awaits the signature of President George Bush to become law. The bill establishes AST as the regulatory authority for manned commercial spaceflight, creates an experimental permit regime for suborbital launches and limits the liability exposure for launch accidents involving paying passengers. Supporters say the bill elimi nates gaps in regulations that made potential investors nervous. Under current law, AST is responsible for licensing unmanned commercial space launches, but has no explicit authority to monitor manned launches. That changes. But critics, including Scaled founder Burt Rutan, have argued that AST is ill-equipped to adapt a 40-year-old body of regulations originally intended for unmanned space launches of commercial satellites to a highly experimental phase of manned launches. Even the bill's supporters pri vately acknowledge critical flaws, saying it leaves the status of hybrid rocket and jet-powered vehicles ambiguous. Passenger safety is also of concern. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ROBCOPPINGER AIR TRANSPORT ANDREW DOYLE / LONDON GE secures lead-engine slot as A350 launch is approved Authority to offer granted aiming for 2010 service entry, initially with GEnx engines General Electric has reacted to its defeat at the hands of Rolls-Royce in the race to secure lead-engine status on the Boeing 7E7 by grab bing pole position on the rival Airbus A350. The European man ufacturer last week secured authority to offer its new twinjet family to airlines from sharehold ers EADS and BAE Systems. Airbus confirms the A350 will be offered in two basic versions - the 245-seat, three-class -800 and larger, 285-seat -900 - and is available for service entry in the first half of 2010. The models offer maximum ranges of 15,900km (8,600nm) and 13,900km, respectively. The launch powerplant for the A350 will be GE's GEnx 72A1. "Paired with the new nacelle and using a pylon design initially devel oped for the A380, the A350 will deliver the exceptional level of fuel economy necessary for efficient medium-capacity long-range opera tion," Airbus says. The engine - to be rated at around 72,0001b thrust Airbus launches the aircraft it said it didn't need: the A350 AIR TRANSPORT GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES (320kN) - will feature a bleed-air sys tem unlike the version for the 7E7. Airbus forecasts demand for 3,100 aircraft over the next 20 years in the 250-300 seat category, of which it expects to secure "at least 50%". Airbus says the A350 will incor porate "a high percentage of light weight structural materials, such as carbonfibre reinforced plastic [CFRP] and aluminium-lithium alloys. For example, the A350 wing will be largely manufactured using CFRP. Furthermore, the A350 wing will deliver exceptional low and high-speed efficiency thanks to cut ting-edge design and manufactur ing techniques and the integration of 'droop nose' technology from the A380." R-R says: "We are working closely with Airbus to reach a posi tion where we can potentially have a Trent derivative offered on the A350. Discussion with Airbus will no doubt include the question of timing in terms of the availability of our engine on early deliveries of the aircraft." GEnx to have composite fan case General Electric has revealed plans to equip the GEnx engine for the Boeing 7E7 with a composite fan case, as well as composite fan blades, representing a significant departure from all previous jet engine designs. The development will save weight and improve perfor mance, says GE, which pioneered the first large-scale use of composite materials in jet engines with the fan blades for the GE90. By replacing the standard metallic fan case material with composites, the company predicts weight savings per engine of close to 160kg (350lb), or 320kg per shipset. However, further knock-on weight reductions from the lighter installation mean the overall weight saving will be more than 360kg per aircraft, it adds. The fibre-braided fan case, made from carbonfibre com posites, will extend aft from the inlet lip flange to the thrust reverser, which will be conventionally constructed. "There is no drawback to doing this," says GEnx marketing gen eral manager Mike Wilking. "It produces weight savings and superior strength, and you get better containment and half the density. We don't even need a Kevlar wrap for con tainment, it's so tough." The composite fan case success fully passed a "proof-of-concept" subscale rig test last month, and a further series of evaluations is planned from April 2005 with a larger-scale rig test. Additional full-scale blade and case rig tests are set for late 2005 and early 2006, says Wilking, who says the system will be designed for growth to accommodate power up to and exceeding the up to 75,000lb thrust (334kN) specified by Airbus for the A350. The engine is set to be certificated at 70,000lb for the 7E7 in 2007, with derated versions available at lower ratings down to 55,000lb. Performance improvements are also expected from the design, which is inherently more rigid than metal, says Wilking. This will mean less distortion under various load ing conditions, with less tip losses and higher blade efficiency throughout the envelope, he adds. "It will stay round, which is good," says Wilking, who adds that the composite case, plus other possible weight- saving features, will be assessed in January, when the design is expected to be frozen. 6 14-20 DECEMBER 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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