All In Depth – Page 32
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In depthWhat Airbus has done since taking on the A220
Just 18 months after Toulouse acquired the twin-jet from Bombardier, production of the A220 is ramping up steadily
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In depthSingapore’s urban air mobility dreams take off
Against the backdrop of the iconic Marina Bay Sands in downtown Singapore, the aircraft took off, circling the Marina Bay area for two minutes, before landing. That marked the first-ever manned flight in an Asian city for urban air mobility company Volocopter, which used its 2X prototype for the test ...
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In depthSingapore’s air force eyes long-term challenges
Airpower is fundamental to Singapore’s status as a sovereign nation. The tiny country, among the world’s most prosperous, utterly lacks strategic depth. It relies on foreign nations for its food and energy needs. Its economy is highly exposed to global trade. Yet for all its lack of landmass, Singapore’s geography ...
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In depthSteady as it goes in ASEAN civil helicopter market
Viewers of the film Crazy Rich Asians may get the sense that civilian helicopter operations in Southeast Asia are simple matter of ‘get in and go’. One scene depicts a trio of three (clearly digitized) VIP helicopters fly in close formation from Singapore to a container ship sailing in the ...
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In depthFor Singapore’s aerospace industry, innovation is its trump card
At Rolls-Royce’s sprawling facility in Singapore, the robots are feeling the heat — literally. At its Trent fanblade manufacturing facility — the only other such facility outside of R-R’s Derby headquarters — the robots take the lead in a process known as super plastic forming. Source: ...
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In depthKey changes introduced on new wing for 777X
Composite design features revised high-lift system compared with previous variants - and folding tips
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In depthWhy Bell plans to vertically integrate its eVTOL business and compete with Uber
In a partial break with its partner Uber – as well as its own historical business model – Bell plans to vertically integrate aircraft production, flight operations and nearly everything in between, in order to grab a large piece of the nascent electric-vertical-take-off-and-landing (eVTOL) air taxi industry.
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In depthAirbus Helicopters enters home straight with H160
For Airbus Helicopters, the end of the long road to certification for the H160 now appears to be in sight. Launched in 2015, the medium-twin is in the final stages of its development campaign; test flights ended in late 2019 and, at the time of writing in mid-January, Airbus Helicopters was preparing to submit the final pieces of documentation to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
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In depthBell’s eVTOL vision changes as it eliminates two rotors and goes all electric
Bell changed the design of its proposed electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, removing two rotor ducts and adding a purely electric propulsion option, after hearing from potential customers that shorter inner city travel would likely come before longer-range trips between metropolitan areas.
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In depthKopter accelerates as gearbox issue fades from view
Swiss manufactuerer Kopter is making full use of its flight-test base in Sicily as it works to overcome setbacks and bring its SH09 light-single to market.
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In depthBoeing 747 marks 50 years since Pan Am service debut
This week marks exactly 50 years since the 747’s first passenger service with Pan Am
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In depthHas airline safety peaked?
The shock of a second 737 Max tragedy in the past year has prompted an urgent rethink of certification and training priorities after a long period of improving accident statistics
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In depthAccident reports issued during the second half of 2019
Final report: Lion Air 737 Max 8, loss of control in flight, 29 October 2018 The Indonesian national transport safety committee (KNKT) found that the aircraft (PK-LQP), during the climb-out from Jakarta international airport on a short domestic flight, crashed when the crew lost control following a technical malfunction. It ...
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In depthMax effect drags down overall sales and deliveries in 2019
Boeing’s pain across both orders and production significantly impacts overall metrics in the mainline airliner sector
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In depthOutlook for 2020
For airframers, the year to come holds technical, regulatory and organisational challenges sure to keep management focused – or even awake at night. A turbulent economy is buffeting airlines, while the technology race for military advantage is only speeding up. Assessing ongoing trends and pending trials, FlightGlobal presents our outlook ...
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In depthAirline deals offer hints of a sector in recovery
The year just gone was clearly one of some financial turbulence for airlines – high-profile failures included BMI Regional, Germania and Wow Air in Europe, Avianca Brazil, India’s Jet Airways and, of course, Thomas Cook. And the general backdrop of continued trade tensions hit demand while creeping fuel, labour and ...
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In depthMax crashes prompt regulatory review
Like flashing Master Warning lights on a flight instrument panel, the Boeing 737 Max fatal crashes in the past two years have signalled that an airworthiness certification oversight system that served the world’s most powerful aviation industry well for decades is no longer coping – and needs updating. Meanwhile, silently ...
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In depthHypersonic arms race accelerates
The USA is hurrying to catch up with China and Russia, which could field an operational hypersonic boost-glide vehicle capable of carrying a nuclear weapon as soon as 2020. That urgency has prompted the US Department of Defense (DoD) to spend $2.6 billion on hypersonic weapons research as part of ...
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In depthGremlins in the works
Development of low-cost attritable aircraft could accelerate in 2020 with the US Congress eyeing at least $100 million in its upcoming budget for the new type of aircraft and the US Air Force (USAF) planning several new experiments. Attritable aircraft are unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) designed with limited lifetimes, that ...
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In depthStill struggling to generate lift
On any forecast, the easy way out is to predict a curate’s egg of a year: some bits good and some bits bad. But when dealing with the helicopter industry it is probably an accurate representation of a sector that has not yet fully recovered from a downturn that has ...