Editorial opinion – Page 20
-
OpinionOPINION: What aircraft designers should learn from Joe Sutter
In a 2009 interview with FlightGlobal, the late former Boeing 747 chief engineer, Joe Sutter, cautioned about reliance on computer-assisted design tools in aircraft development. “There should not be an over-emphasis on what computers tell you, because they only tell you what you tell them to tell you,” he said.
-
OpinionOPINION: How East can steer Rolls-Royce through 787 engine trouble
A year into the job, Rolls-Royce boss Warren East’s to-do list shows no signs of shrinking. The engine maker had already braced shareholders for a torrid 2016, due to cyclical pressures and worse-than-expected market conditions, when it emerged that All Nippon Airways is to replace 100 Boeing 787 Trent 1000s ...
-
OpinionOPINION: Can local industry deliver on Russia's aerospace ambitions?
In a completely rational, market-driven world, the make-up of Russia’s aviation industry would no doubt look very different.
-
OpinionOPINION: Adapted RJ100 is a freight idea
Once bitten, twice shy, as the popular saying goes. But apparently not so for BAE Systems, which has revealed plans to convert its out-of-production RJ100 for a new role, carrying freight.
-
OpinionOPINION: Can Airlander revive the airship's prospects?
At Flight International we salute innovation. And Hybrid Air Vehicles, the start-up behind the Airlander 10 – which has re-emerged from its hangar after returning to the UK in 2013 – has it in spades.
-
Opinion
OPINION: How to exit a burning airliner
You have to wonder what sort of incentive is needed to spur passengers to evacuate a crashed airliner, if a burning wing is not sufficient.
-
OpinionOPINION: Why US Air Force needs a low-cost gun-slinger
Roll the clock back six years to 2010. The US Air Force had just shelved a proposal to stand up a new wing of fighters based on the OA-X, a concept for a propeller-driven, light-attack fighter – reviving the role played by the Vietnam-era Douglas A-1 Skyraider.
-
Opinion
OPINION: All hands on deck as Toulouse battles A350 backlog
At the halfway point of the year, three-quarters of the 50 A350s which Airbus planned to deliver in 2016 had still to be handed over.
-
OpinionOPINION: Cracks appear as Airbus, Boeing workloads mount
There is no other way to describe it. The second quarter of 2016 marked a modern low-point in the history of the Airbus and Boeing duopoly.
-
OpinionOPINION: Could instability threaten Turkey's F-35 ambitions?
Turkey’s first Lockheed Martin F-35A is scheduled to be delivered in 2018. So, in roughly a year to 18 months, normal protocol dictates staging a roll-out ceremony inside its assembly hall in Fort Worth, Texas, where US government dignitaries will lavish praise on one of the programme’s earliest supporters and ...
-
Opinion
OPINION: Ownership change gives SR Technics fresh focus
Abu Dhabi’s investment fund Mubadala had been trying to sell SR Technics for years. And when a deal was finally disclosed, the buyer’s identity came as no surprise either. China’s HNA Group has closed in on shareholdings in a host of airlines and aviation service businesses, including Swissport and GateGroup.
-
Opinion
OPINION: F-35's Farnborough debut a welcome lift
It was still possible at the Farnborough air show in 2014 to speculate whether the Lockheed Martin F-35 programme would survive the decade.
-
OpinionOPINION: Is A380 rate cut beginning of the end for superjumbo?
At Farnborough, the Airbus A380 was once again a sight to behold as it manoeuvred almost silently, almost balletically through its aerial routine. More than a decade after its air show debut at Paris, the world’s largest airliner remains a whispering wonder of European engineering, as impressive as the Boeing ...
-
Opinion
OPINION: TransAsia crash report's psychological warning
Popular wisdom enshrined in an old maxim on cockpit crises lists the most useless things in aviation as “altitude above you”, “runway behind you”, and “a few seconds ago”.
-
Opinion
OPINION: Farnborough shows how UK remains aerospace pioneer
The UK may lack an independent aircraft-building industry these days, with the famed constructors of the early jet age long gone or subsumed, but its aerospace industry continues to be a major global player.
-
Opinion
OPINION: How will UK aerospace fare, post-Brexit?
Most of UK aerospace – along with the rest of industry – campaigned against it. But on 23 June the people spoke, and after more than four decades of membership, the nation will begin negotiations to leave the European Union. The 52% to 48% vote surprised pundits and has claimed ...
-
Opinion
OPINION: India's small step towards airline reform
In a world where over-regulation of the airline industry is the norm, India still managed to go the extra mile with its 5/20 rule.
-
OpinionOPINION: Can Airbus bear weight of A400M Atlas?
By all rights, the Airbus Defence & Space A400M should be a soar-away success story in both the domestic and export markets – but at the moment the programme is looking dangerously vulnerable.
-
OpinionOPINION: Pratt & Whitney right to innovate with geared turbofan
In the late-1980s, Pratt & Whitney had a flash of inspiration. Reduction gears for gas turbines already existed, but the only reliable gearboxes for airliner-sized engines were the size of houses. If P&W could scale down the gearbox into a package weighing less than 150kg, they could change the industry.
-
Opinion
OPINION: Why Red Arrows have put safety first for Farnborough
For the first time in living memory, next month’s Farnborough air show will not be able to call on the awe-inspiring aerobatic skills of the pride of the Royal Air Force: the Red Arrows. A shining icon of the UK’s aerospace prowess, the team will be performing only a number ...