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com

READY TO STRIKE
ASSESSING THE F-35 IN
SIMULATED COMBAT

SEPTEMBER 2015

ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT
SPARK IDEAS

INNOVATION IN
CABIN DESIGN

UK SPACE
CONFERENCE
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Volume 42 Number 9

Lockheed Martin

Airbus/Rolls-Royce
September 2015 Sending the F-35 Sparks begin to fly
into virtual combat Electrically-powered

14
Putting the aircraft emerge
Lightning II into a
future battlespace
24 from the shadows
as a potential new
simulation. How did it generation of green
measure up? aircraft.

Contents
Correspondence on all aerospace matters is welcome at: The Editor, AEROSPACE, No.4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ, UK publications@aerosociety.com

Comment Regulars
4 Radome 12 Transmission
The latest aviation and Your letters, emails, tweets
aeronautical intelligence, and feedback.
analysis and comment.

MMRCA: back to square one? 10 Antenna

Howard Wheeldon looks at
58 The Last Word
Keith Hayward on
international competition and
why DSEI is still a the ongoing airlines’ subsidy
Over a decade after the first requests for information were sent out, India’s $12bn must-attend defence and dispute.
MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) fighter contest is now officially security event.
dead. The ‘must-win’ prize of a requirement for 126 fighters that was bitterly
contested, with Rafale scooping the prize in 2012 is now axed. France’s Dassault,
however, does not go home empty handed, having secured an order for 36 directly
Features

UK Space 2015

Heathrow Airport
from India’s Prime Minister, who short-circuited the MoD and HAL bureaucracy
— to at least get some combat aircraft into service. However, this does still leave
a shortfall of 90 aircraft and this may get more acute in the future for India’s air
force, which faces an ageing fleet and its two main regional competitors, China
and Pakistan, both modernising their front-line capabilities. In particular, the 28
qualitative margin that India enjoyed over China is (like other nations) being eroded
as the PLAAF induct J-10s, J-11s and, conceivably in the future, J-20 stealth
fighters. While India has a partnering agreement with Russia on its PAK-FA stealth
18 Politics next hurdle for
Heathrow third runway
What will happen next after
fighter — that project too seems to have hit snags — with the IAF expressing Merseyside rocks to the the decision of the Davis
concerns about the quality of Sukhoi’s fighter. Fighter manufacturers around the space beat Commission to recommend
What were the themes a third Heathrow runway?
world, therefore, will be watching New Delhi’s next move with great interest. Will and major topics at the UK
there be a MMRCA II? (tag-line: ‘This time its personal’). Will the ‘Make it in India’ Space Conference 2015? 32 Pressure builds for UK
stipulations that may have proved the sticking point in the Rafale negotiations MPA
Maritime patrol and civil
return? Will India open the contest again to all-comers? Time is now ticking fast. SAR was on the agenda at

MoD
One thing seems obvious. If there really is a desperate air power strategic gap in a recent search and rescue
front-line fighters that India is facing — it cannot afford to wait another decade conference.
or so for a re-run of the tortured MMRCA competition. The IAF can either have

Cessna
new fighters in service quickly or it can have local production of Western/Russian
designs — but it cannot have both simultaneously.

20
Tim Robinson 36
Back to school
tim.robinson@aerosociety.com The RAeS Airworthiness & Safety in the skies
NEWS IN BRIEF Maintenance Group report on
the transformed engineering
An introduction to the work
of the UK General Aviation
training at RAF Cosford. Safety Council.
Editor-in-Chief AEROSPACE is published by the Royal AEROSPACE subscription rates:
Tim Robinson Aeronautical Society (RAeS). Non-members, £155
+44 (0)20 7670 4353 Chief Executive Please send your order to:

41 Afterburner
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raes@servicehelpline.co.uk 42 Message from our President
Publications Manager Unless specifically attributed, no
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47 Library Additions
Online
Production Editor publication is not permitted without the USA: Periodical postage paid at
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+44 (0)20 7670 4354 offices. 48 IT FLIES UK 2015
wayne.davis@aerosociety.com Printed by Buxton Press Limited,
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51 Washington Branch www.media.aerosociety.com/
Editorial Office Distributed by Royal Mail aerospace-insight
Royal Aeronautical Society ISSN 2052-451X 52 Diary Including: Whisperjet waterbomber,
No.4 Hamilton Place
London W1J 7BQ, UK 54 Obituaries In the August issue of AEROSPACE,
+44 (0)20 7670 4300 Electric aircraft sparks imagination,
publications@aerosociety.com 55 Corporate Partners Mission accomplished for
Front cover: Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II. Lockheed Martin
www.aerosociety.com 56 RAeS Elections Yateley SBAP.

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 Radome
INTELLIGENCE / ANALYSIS / COMMENT

W
SPACEFLIGHT

NASA's Mars glider

NASA is testing a prototype wing that could be developed into a space-going glider which would fly over
the surface of Mars looking for potential landing sites for future manned space missions. Designed to
fly in the thin atmosphere above the surface of Mars, the Prandtl-m (Preliminary Research Aerodynamic
Designed to Land on Mars) could accompany the NASA Mars rover mission planned to launch in 2020.
The inclusion of Prandtl-m on the Mars mission is not yet certain but, if high altitude flight tests of
the prototype are successful, the Prandtl-m development team plans to ask NASA if the glider can be
included as part of the payload.

Hitching a ride
The glider would travel to Mars inside a
12in x 4in x 4in 3U CubeSat attached to
the protective aeroshell that covers the
rover during descent and landing

Specifications
Construction Fibreglass or carbon fibre
Wingspan 61cm
Weight 1.8kg
Payload Mapping camera and high-
altitude radiometer
Flight time 10min
Range 20 miles
NASA

4 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015

 Wings unfurled
During the rover's descent towards the surface
of Mars the Prandtl-m would be ejected from the
aeroshell, unfold its wings and begin gliding at
a height of 2,000ft above the planet's surface,
recording high resolution photographic images
and telemetry from very low altitudes.

High flyer flight tests

Tests are currently being conducted by a team
of summer community college students using
Prandtl-d flying gliders launched from unusual
attitudes to simulate condtions which might occur
following an ejection from the Mars rover to see if
the aircraft will recover stability. Usiing the results
from these tests, a design will be developed
for a prototype Prandtl-m glider which will be
launched by a high-altitude balloon later this
year from a height of 100,000ft where the thin
air is most similar to the atmosphere of Mars. A
second balloon launch is planned for 2016 while
a third flight from a rocket at 450,000ft is under
NASA

consideration.

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 Radome
DEFENCE
US Marines declare
F-35B operational
On 31 July the US Marine
Corps declared that the
Lockheed Martin F-35B
has achieved initial
operational capability (IOC)
and can now participate in
operations along with its
other active aircraft.
AEROSPACE
F-35Bs and are expected to
acquire a further 80 F-35Cs.
The F-35A conventional
take-off and landing variants
are scheduled to become
operational with the US Air
Force at the end of 2016
while the carrier variant

The first F-35B
deployment is scheduled for
2017 when the VMFA-121
squadron moves to Iwakuni in
Japan. The Marines have 340
GKN Aerospace
F-35C, used both by the US
Navy and Marines, will follow
in 2018. See 'Sending the
F-35 into virtual air combat'
p 14.

SPACEFLIGHT GKN to acquire Fokker

for €706m
Probe Structures and engines The Netherlands and
snaps dark group GKN is to buy retaining the Fokker

side of the Dutch aerospace company

Moon
The US National Oceanic
and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)
Deep Space Climate
Observatory (DSCOVR)
satellite has captured a
rarely-before seen image
of the far-side of the Moon
transiting the Earth. The
DCSOVR probe orbits the
Earth a million miles away
NASA
Fokker Technologies Group
Technologies name. The
acquisition extends GKN's
for €706m.
Under the deal,
international footprint in
China, Turkey, India and
Fokker will remain a Mexico and shifts GKN
separate division within Aerospace to no 2 in
GKN, with its HQ still in aerostructures.
Delay for Global 7000
Bombardier has announced a two-year
delay to its Global 7000 business jet. Entry
into service, set for 2016, has now been
pushed back to the second half of 2018.

measuring solar wind.

NEWS IN BRIEF
NASA technicians have
conducted tests on
a 30-foot composite
structure built by sewing
together layers and rods of
composite material. Named
PRSEUS (Pultruded Rod
Stitched Efficient Unitized
Structure), the structure was
bent, twisted and stressed
to breaking point. The tests
are part of research into
construction techniquues
for future composite aircraft
designs, including blended
wing bodies.
No 12 (Bomber) Squadron
Global Infrastructure are to continue in service
Partners is to sell London for another year until
City Airport which it March 2017. The12 Sqn,
has owned since 2006. who are currently operating
Financial experts predict out of RAF Akrotiri in
that the airport could fetch Cyprus, was due to stand
up to £2bn. The airport down in 2016.
has previously been owned
by Irish financier Dermot Orbital ATK has ordered
Desmond and the Mowlem a second Atlas 5 rocket
construction group. to launch an additional
commercial Cygnus
The UK Ministry of cargo spacecraft for the
Defence (MoD) has International Space Station.
announced that RAF Orbital ATK is currently
Tornado GR4s operated by using Atlas rockets
following the explosion
of its Antares launcher in
October 2014.
Honda Aircraft announced
that it received ‘multiple
orders’ for its new
HondaJet very light jet
at the Latin American
Business Aviation
Conference and Exhibition
(LABACE).
The Airbus Group has
been granted a US patent
for an ‘ultra-rapid air
vehicle’ designed to fly at
Mach 4 at altitudes up to
12.4 miles. The aircraft,
which would be powered
by a combination of jet
engines, ramjets and
rocket motors, features a
fuselage filled with liquid
oxygen and liquid hydrogen
with space at the front for
a cockpit and for 2-3t of
cargo or 24 passengers.
Latin American carrier
LATAM has announced a
new corporate brand which
will begin to be appear on
aircraft from 2016. The Chile-

6 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015

SPACEFLIGHT
SS2 crash due to human
factors, says NTSB
The US NTSB has
released its findings on the
31 October crash of the
Virgin Galactic SpaceShip
2, confirming that the
co-pilot unlocked the tail
‘feathering’ mechanism
too early, which led to the
inflight break-up of the
vehicle and the death of
DEFENCE
Typhoon P2E flies as upgrade work
goes into high gear
unlocking the ‘feather’
mechanism 22 seconds
early at Mach 0.92 — the
NTSB also criticised
training and procedures
at Scaled Composites —
noting there was a ‘single
point of failure’. It also BAE Systems has revealed that the
singled out the FAA for first Eurofighter Typhoon, with the latest P2E
lack of oversight in giving (Phase 2 Enhancements) software made its first flight from
BAE Systems

one test pilot. a waiver on human factors Warton on 5 August. The upgrade provides the baseline for
However, while the to Scaled, without having integration with Meteor and Storm Shadow missiles — which
immediate cause was been requested. are set to begin flight tests with Typhoon shortly.

AIR TRANSPORT AEROSPACE

La Guardia Airport to be revamped MH370 777 flaperon
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that the city’s La Guardia Airport, found on La Réunion?
widely criticised for its outdated layout, is to have a $4bn revamp and modernisation.
The new design will see one unified terminal building, automated trams, better passenger
access, improved taxiways and a ferry service. If approved, ground-breaking could begin The French ministry
in 2016. of defence is to assist
FAZSOI armed forces
of the southern Indian
Ocean to intensify the
search for wreckage from
the missing Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370 in
the vicinity of La Réunion,
a French island in the
Indian Ocean. The decision
NY Governor
has been verified by the
Malaysian government, but
not confirmed by French
investigators BEA, as
coming from the missing
Boeing 777-200ER which
disappeared on 8 March
2014 while en route
from Kuala Lumpur to
Beijing. The new search
for additional wreckage,

follows the discovery of a which began on 7 August,

flaperon washed up on the includes overflights by a
beach at Réunion which CASA aircraft.

based airline was formed
from the merger of LAN and
TAM three years ago.
The Russian defence
ministry has ordered the
grounding of all Mi-28
attack helicopters in
early August following a
fatal crash at an air show
caused by a suspected
hydraulics failure. One pilot
was killed and another
jumped clear after the two-
seat helicopter crashed
during an aerobatic display
by the Berkut squadron in
the Ryazan region. There of Proposed Amendment
have been six recent Gulfstream's new G500 (A-NPA) 2015-10 — An ATR 42-300 regional
crashes involving the business jet has now which uses the words turboprop operated
Russian air force. completed five test flights ‘drones’ for the first time by Indonesian carrier
since its first flight on in an official publication Trigana Air crashed in
The European Space 18 May. During over 15 — proposes that Europe mountainous terrain
Agency (ESA) has hours of flying, the aircraft take a proportionate and in New Guinea on
contracted Airbus Safran achieved a top speed of risk-based approach to 16 August. All 54
Launchers to build new Mach 0.80 and a maximum UAV operations by dividing passengers and crew are
generation Ariane 6 altitude of 38,500ft. them into three distinct believed to have been
launchers by 2020 in groups: open, specific and killed. The aircraft, which
a deal worth €2.4bn. A The European Aviation certified. The rules also was flying from Jayapura
€395m deal was also Safety Authority (EASA) propose the elimination of on the north coast of
signed with European has published a revised national aviation authority Papua to the inland town
Launch Vehicle to set of rule proposals control over UAVs under of Oksibil, is not reported
develop the smaller Vega governing the operation of 150kg and the creation of to have issued any
launcher by 2018. UAVs. The Advance Notice ‘no drone zone’ airspace. distress call.

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 Radome
AEROSPACE
Facebook reveals giant
Aquila drone
Facebook has revealed first
images of its 42m wingspan
solar-powered flying wing
it is developing to improve
Internet access in remote
areas of the world. Named
Aquila (pictured below),
the drone will fly in circles
of around 3km radius at a
height of between 60,000ft
and 90,000ft for up to three
months without landing,
NEWS IN BRIEF
Embraer is to delay
certification of its new
KC-390 tanker-transport
to 2H 2017 with entry into
service postponed until
2018. Flight testing of the
KC-390 is to resume in Q3
of this year and continue
for 18-24 months. The first
KC-390 flew in February
2014.
NASA is debating where
next to send its New
Horizons spacecraft
following its recent flyby of
8 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
SPACEFLIGHT
Skynet 5 moves
east
using a laser to beam data
down to a base station on
the ground.
The aircraft is not fitted
Airbus Defence and Space
with landing gear and
does not have the ability
to take-off or climb from
ground level to its cruising
altitude. Facebook says that
Aquila will be launched into
position from a high-altitude
helium balloon. For the first time a new orbit over the Asia-
ever, the UK’s military Pacific region. Skynet, run
communications satellite as a managed service for
network, Skynet, will the UK MoD by AirbusDS,
cover the whole globe as is hoping to target allied
operator Airbus Defence and coalition nations in
and Space moves the the region with its spare
Skynet 5A 67,000km into X-band capacity.
AIR TRANSPORT
Heathrow to trial
steeper glide paths
Royal Australian Air Force
Heathrow is to conduct a which are voluntary and
six-month trial from mid- only to be conducted
September allowing aircraft during good visibility, would
landing at the airport to use involve approaching aircraft
steeper glide paths with flying around 170ft higher
Facebook
approach angles increased at a distance of 8nm from
from 3° to 3.2°. The trials, the runway.
Pluto. Scientists will decide the transport of lions, within visual range (WVR)
to direct the spacecraft to Isle of Wight-based aircraft leopards, elephants, dogfights during the
fly past one of two objects manufacturer Britten- rhinos or buffalos killed two-week Indradanush IV
discovered in the Kuiper Norman has announced by trophy hunters. The exercise in July at RAF
Belt by the Hubble Space that it is to expand its decision follows an Coningsby in which RAF
Telescope in 2014. apprentice and training international protest Typhoons were matched up
base. The company has after the killing of 'Cecil', against Russian-designed
The UN Humanitarian Air joined The 5% Club which a rare black-maned SU-30MKI Flankers. The
Service (UNHAS) says commits it to having a lion from Zimbabwe's RAF responded by saying
that it may have to cease minimum of 5% of its Hwange National Park. that its own analysis did
helicopter relief services UK workforce engaged Qatar Airways has also not reflect what had been
for areas of Nepal hit by in formal apprentice banned hunting trophies. reported and that RAF
earthquakes in April due to schemes. pilots and the Typhoon
a funding shortfall. UNHAS The Indian Air Force performed well throughout
says that it has only US carriers American (IAF) has backed down the exercise with and
received $8.8m, leaving a Airlines, Delta and from iniitial claims that against the Indian Air
$9.2m shortfall. United have banned it beat the RAF 12-0 in Force.
SPACEFLIGHT
DARPA awards contracts
for XS-1 spaceplane
The US Defense
Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA)
AEROSPACE
L410 NG completes first flight
companies have already
been working on the initial
Phase 1 design work.

has requested Boeing,
Northrop Grumman and
Masten Space Systems
to continue development
work on the Mach 10
XS-1 (Experimental
Spaceplane-1) unmanned
military spacecraft. All three
Aircraft Industries
DARPA wants to use
the reusable XS-1 to fly
up to ten times in ten days
to launch 3,000-5,000lb
payloads into orbit for less
than $5m per mission. The Czech manufacturer Aircraft Industries has revealed it successfully completed the first
first flight could be as early flight of its upgraded L 410 NG commuter aircraft, at the company’s airfield in Kunovice
as 2018. on 29 July. The revamped 19-seat L 410 NG features increased range, glass cockpit and
new engines.

DEFENCE GENERAL AVIATION

First Growler delivered to RAAF
Bin Laden family bizjet
crashes in UK
The sister and stepmother
of Osama bin Laden were
killed along with two
others after their Embraer
Phenom 300 light jet
crashed at Blackbushe
airport in Hampshire. The
aircraft was flying to the
UK from from Milan-
Malpensa Airport in Italy.
The accident happened
when the biz-jet overshot
the runway and collided
with a fence before flipping
over and catching fire on a
car auction site.

AIR TRANSPORT
INFOGRAPHIC: Opportunity to
Boeing has rolled out
upgrade Iran’s aging airline fleet?
ON THE the first EA-18G Growler

MOVE electronic attack aircraft

The Monarch Group has
promoted Lee Burgess
as its new Head of
Engineering and Andy
Mackay as Head of
Maintenance for its MRO
division.
Boeing announced that
its VP and GM of the 787
programme, Larry Loftis,
is to retire. He will be
succeeded by Mark Jenks
from the 787 airplane
development staff.
for the Royal Australian Air
Force (RAAF) in St Louis,
Missouri.
Australia is set to
receive 12 Growlers, from
36 Super Hornets on order.
Correction
In the August issue of
AEROSPACE on p 8 of the
news, it was said that the
Kawasaki P1 at RIAT was the
first appearance by Japanese
aircraft at a European air show.
However, this should have
been ‘appearance in the flying
display’ as JASDF KC-767s had
statista

previously visited RIAT on the

static park.

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 antenna: Global Outlook and
Analysis with
HOWARD WHEELDON

DSEI: defence exports

shop window
I
make no apology this month for highlighting security industry experts providing their respective
what I regard as the best defence trade show views on matters ranging from current threats,
event in the world. Being hosted once again military policy, skills retention, engineering and
at the superb ExCel Exhibition Centre in training right through to how to win business in new
London during 15-18 September, Defence and emerging markets. Procurement and better
and Security Equipment International — DSEI ways of doing this will clearly be a regular topic of
2015 for short — promises to be the best ever conversation and importantly, how can exporting
exhibition in the long and illustrious history of be made easier. All these are important issues to
this powerful biennial defence and security event. consider in this new age of so-called affordability
Highlighting four pillars of expertise, aerospace, and when the Government is also seeking to
land systems, maritime and security, DSEI 2015 increase exports.
will, as it has so successfully done in the past, As one of the sponsoring partners, the MoD
shine the spotlight on the most important and along with UKTI Defence and Security Organisation,
significant elements of military and security will again be at DSEI 2015 in force, the latter with
capability and requirement. its UK Capability Showcase. Designed to illustrate
Not only is DSEI the largest defence and the partnership between government and industry in
security equipment and services exhibition in the the UK, the UKTI showcase which will be supported
world, it is also, from an industry perspective, to by members of the specialist export exhibition team
be considered the most important and influential. throughout, will display a range of equipment and
Considered a ‘not to be missed’ event by defence solutions while at the same time be promoting the
industry professionals, the exhibition is one of the Government’s strong export message. The range
few places where one can see prime contractors, of capabilities on display come not only from the
supply chain and a great many small and medium- UK’s innovative prime contractors and medium-sized
sized enterprises and service companies working enterprises but also from small companies who
alongside each other to achieve the same ends. can offer solutions not just for current and existing
Held every two years since inception in 1993, problems but for potential future requirements as
DSEI can trace its roots back to the mid 1970s well.
when the British Army and the Royal Navy used The MoD and UKTI DSO will also be hosting
to hold equipment exhibitions on alternate years. a number of senior ministers attending DSEI
With industry keen to show off its wares, these
exhibitions were always very well received and
each year they would be attended by an increasing
number of military delegations from all over the
world. DSEI continues to grow in both stature and
importance and today it is recognised not only
as the best international combined defence and
security exhibition of its kind but also for the quality
of the separate conference events.
With a vast array of defence equipment on
show, DSEI is the place not only to see and better
understand equipment on offer and meet industry
specialists but it is also an event to network and
learn. It is a place to view immense amounts of new
product, systems, technologies and services, at the
same time as being a place and a forum in which to
discuss and debate issues that impact on defence
and security in the global market place and on the
companies and users involved.
Throughout the four-day event there will be
briefings from military and other defence and

10 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015

2015 this year from a number of UK Government
departments along with a substantial number of
military delegations attending from a variety of
international countries.
Stimulating exports
Apart from the UKTI, DSO exhibitions team
representation from the UK armed forces will
include the Royal Air Force Capability Industry
Day. Duncan Reid, Exhibition Director at Clarion
Events and the DSEI Events Director, said recently
that: “the aerospace dimension of DSEI has
grown strongly in recent years, with leading prime
contractors and their supply chain members using
the event as a platform to reach international
markets.” This is undoubtedly true and it is an area
that the Defence Growth Partnership is also looking
at as well to see what else is required to stimulate,
help and support smaller companies with ambitions
to be able to export.
Military capability is as much about people as
it is about the equipment used. The two run hand
in hand of course but, without one, the other is
seemingly useless. While the main emphasis of
DSEI is on equipment, it is equally as much about
people and the ability to better understand the
benefits of what the equipment on offer actually
achieves.
If it is innovation and new ideas and concepts
you are looking for, DSEI 2015 will certainly not be
found wanting on that score. Of course, investing
in large shows such as DSEI does not come
cheap and they are not for the faint-hearted. Trade
organisations, be they national or regional, play a
large and very useful part in helping representation
by small and medium-sized enterprises with member
companies able to occupy affordable stands. Large
defence companies, both national and international,
put considerable effort into bringing as much as
Finmeccanica
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they can onto their stands and making sure that
there are ample specialists available to assist
delegates and potential military customers.
This year marks the ninth DSEI in its present
form and promises to be larger than ever. The
event is expected to attract over 32,000 delegates
and visitors from all over the world, including
AN INCREASING
150 programmed military delegations from over NUMBER OF
60 countries. Further expanded and with well WESTERN
over 1,500 exhibitors from over 50 countries NATIONS ARE
participating, the main DSEI events will be
preceded by a number of strategic military and
BEGINNING TO
security conferences on 14 September extending REVERSE THE
through the first day of the show. The Royal TREND OF CUTS
Navy, Royal Air Force and the Army will all be
AND ACTUALLY
very actively engaged with teams of personnel
engaging with industry representatives and other
INCREASE
visitors. DSEI also present an opportunity for the SPENDING ON
MoD and Department of Business, Innovation and DEFENCE
Skills to meet with industry and those engaged in
education to discuss how we increase the number
of students undertaking STEM subjects and better
handle the real shortage of engineering skills.
Leveraging on the success of previous shows,
this year will see over 40 international pavilions and
six themed zones, including air, land, naval, medical
and unmanned, together with security and special
forces this is a not to be missed showcase event for
military and industry professionals. Static displays
will include a number of helicopters and moored
alongside, will be ships from various navies from
around the world including India, Germany, Belgium
and Britain.
As a place to do business, to network, to show
new technology or perhaps launch specific new
products to defence and security market buyers,
or maybe just to seek to identify new business
opportunities, DSEI is unsurpassed. There are, of
course, many trade shows around the world but, in
terms of size, scope, venue and professionalism, my
own view is that DSEI is the only one that does the
business. For the defence industries of all countries,
except the few that have continued to increase
spending on defence equipment, these are difficult
times with Western nations continuing to question
the affordability of some aspects of defence.
Even so, with the level of threats against the West
having risen markedly over the past two years, an
increasing number of western nations are beginning
to reverse the trend of cuts and actually increase
spending on defence.
In the US the effects of ‘sequestration’ cuts on
defence spending have yet to abate and this impact
has forced many US defence companies to extend
the focus on exports to sustain order books. Major
defence primes such as Lockheed Martin, General
Dynamics, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman are
long-established exhibitors at DSEI and they are
now being joined by an increasing number of others
that are focusing on increasing export potential.
www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 11
 Transmission
LETTERS AND ONLINE
On Yateley School
SBAP(1) Boeing and the
RAeS have done a really
good job promoting the
SBAP projects. Sir Michael
Arthur and Sir Roger Bone
before him both highlighted
the usefulness of students
being involved in one of
these projects. YouTube
features many examples
of the handiwork and
engineering going on, not
only at Yateley but around
the UK where other youth
B@P projects are ongoing.
I was recently in the USA
and happened upon a
Boeing employee based
in St Louis. He remarked
he knew of the SBAP
projects through Boeings
internal communications to
employees. The impact is
truly worldwide!Finally lets
not forget the bold teachers
and volunteers who had to
commit to each project and
drive it forward.
Stewart Luck
On electric-powered
aircraft(2) This article hardly
mentions the most practical
way forward — the hybrid
propulsion system. An
electric motor, with relatively
small battery, assists a
conventional engine during
take-off, and also provides
backup propulsion. The
conventional motor can then
be sized only for cruise. This
has been demonstrated
in flight by Cambridge
University, several
propulsion companies
have demonstrated hybrid
prototypes and prototype
GA aircraft are under
development.
Tony Bishop
I’m not clear exactly what
record is being claimed here.
If it is for electric powered
flight across the channel, this
was achieved in July 1981
by the Solar Challenger. this
craft flew from near Paris
to Manston. If I remember
12 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
Former students from Yateley School and the RAeS/Boeing Schools
Build a Plane microlight they helped to build.
rightly it aimed to go from
Paris to London but was
not permitted to. It had the
capability to fly twice that far.
Chris Wright
Lot of opinion and not much
physics above. The reason
aircraft use liquid fuel is it
is the lowest weight and
highest efficiency way to
generate energy, at the
point of use, as needed..
Generating it first and
storing it inefficiently in
heavy storage devices to be
innefficiently regenerated
later is exactly what not to do
in an aircraft. Solar collection
in real time is far too weak
to lift anything useful. Still a
poor way to power a vehicle,
in particular because of
the overall efficiency of
generating then chemically
storing electricity to be
re-created later. Massively
expensive and inefficient,
and, most important, reduces
the payload you can carry
which is the whole point of
flight. The physics of electric
propulsion simply doesn’t
work for flight — which
needs energetic primary
fuel converted in the most
energy efficient thrust
producer possible, in terms
of Kg per KW. Interesting,
but not general aviation.
There are better ways to do
this, even if its synthesising
Avgas from the atmosphere
with nuclear generated
electricity, recycling CO2.
Brian Catt CEng CPhys
Electric passenger aircraft
are impractical, because of
the poor energy density of
batteries compared to fuels.
Use the electricity to make
aircraft fuel instead. A fully
loaded Boeing 747 weighs
around 400 tonnes at take
off, with around 200 tonnes
of fuel. The Tesla lithium-ion
batteries that could store
the same amount of energy
would weigh as much as
about fifty Boeing 747s.
Pete Austin
i
Laurent Ghibaut [On flight
crew training] Speaking only
for the UK sector: When
the self-improver route to
The NASA/Boeing SugarVolt future concept aircraft would
fly using hybrid electric propulsion. (See Sparks begin to
fly on p 24).
a CPL via the UK CAA’s
BCPL with approx 1,500hr
instructing was removed by
the UK in joining the JAA
system, it suddenly made
it about five to six times
more expensive to become
a flight instructor and so,
by expense, in an already
expensive profession, ruling
out a large traditional pool of
vocational, low capital, future
pilots. Many club instructors
moved to commercial flight
training companies before
the change, but now they
are not there to move. Why
would any sensible person
now become a club flying
instructor in the UK when
they are treated as go-fers,
living on less than the
minimum wage or being co-
erst into being illegally self-
employed, having already
forked out £60K to £70K?
Furthermore, the JAA route
was just an excuse to put
prices up under the guise
of ‘modular’ training. The
industry is reaping what it
sowed.
John Kenton-Page MSc
FRAeS [On Heathrow third
runway(3)] This is only a stop-
gap measure. If we are to
complete, there is a need for
a complete new airport. This
is the route being taken all
over the world.
Daniel Olufisan Given
its long established and
renowned status as a global
hub, I personally believe
its a ‘no-brainer’ to favour
Heathrow over Gatwick...
Boeing
Peter Moxham I felt this
result was inevitable from
the beginning but it will
never be allowed to happen
— it is politically a non-
starter. Although I have been
in the aviation industry all my
life, I speak as a passenger,
human being and resident
in the Cotswolds. I do still
travel very frequently by
air and I believe the needs
of passengers are often
overlooked in favor of the
specialist interest groups.
I try to avoid ‘hubs’ which
are never passenger friendly
and therefore would far
rather see the regional
airports developed. Hubs
are inefficient for everyone
except the airline operators
— interesting that the
growth area of low cost
carriers do not actually use
hubs but thrive on offering
direct point to point flights.
Gatwick is useless for
anyone resident north of
the Thames. Heathrow is a
passenger nightmare to be
avoided at all costs about
an hour from touchdown to
catching your train/bus/car
and seems to have forgotten
the words ‘passenger and
service. These are not alone
— for anyone living north of
Watford then any London
airport should be avoided.
Please let us encourage
the regional airports — if
you actually study your
geography you will readily
see the pointless situation of
further development around
London. Business in other
countries may like hubs
but that brings no business
to UK Plc. We have spent
many many millions
of pounds on reviews,
investigations and reports
but have achieved a big
fat zero! This report gives
a politically unacceptable
solution and will go the way
of all others.
Michael Price [On UAVs
and SDSR 2015] Studying
the mix of manned/
unmanned makes sense
but are we starting from
the right place? Currently
umanned platforms are in
low threat environments
and manned ones in higher
threat. But perhaps in a
notional ‘all-out’ air combat
of the future the heartless
drone would work best?
Lukas Willcocks USAF
doesn’t think drones are
the future. High loss rate.
Operating costs also higher
for likes of global hawk.
Georgia lost several to
manned Migs. The trend is
towards more automation
and an Internet of things but
this is also more vulnerable
to cyber attacks or solar
storms.
Dee Amos FRAS MRAeS
& AMInstP Presently
drones are an early
generation and operated
linearly and so relatively
good at snooping and
small scale attack. Newer
developments would be a
super enhancement if the
operator sat in a full flight
simulator 180 degree style
cockpit so as to have true
reactions to aggressors.
As for balancing the books
financially, the Russian
Bears check our response
times and glaringly note
our eggs are in but a few
baskets with no strength
in depth so much so that
even US bases are leaving
a country that doesn’t want
to defend itself. 30 years
ago there was laughingly
suggested that Hawk
aircraft carry sidewinders
as part of a fighter flight
(with somebody that had a
radar). With the commitment
to new lightning two and
euro fighters, more Hawk
two’s perhaps opening a
retired base or two and
sharing fighters and Hawks
between them and the
current would be cost
effective. As for relying
on Europe as NATO and
sharing defence, with
the shape of finances in
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Find us on LinkedIn
Eurozone some countries
are bound to turn away
from any conflict unless it’s
their border directly invaded.
Europe has never looked so
ripe from the East.
@KonradMuzyka [On
NATO reducing its Baltic
Air Policing commitments]
From then on the Russian
Air Force activity over the
Baltic is likely to decrease
as well.
@mgerrydoyle Well, at
the rate the Russian air
force is grounding planes
there might be a lull no
matter what...
@DomnicAlexander [On
Dr Ron Smith FRAeS’s
rainbow 777 contrail pic]
(Illustrated on right) Inter-
esting, how many types of
contrails are there?
@MickWest There’s
really just two basic types
of contrail: exhaust and
aerodynamic. There are
variants though.
@TrampolinRocket
BREAKING: Boeing &
God hold joint celebration
of Obergefell.
@GbhvfRon Having
taken the photo I have
posted a small discussion
paper on my site at http://
www.ronandjimsmith.
com/books/wp-content/
uploads/2015/07/Aircraft-
Vortices-and-Contrails.pdf
f facebook.com/raes
Find us on Facebook.
@danohagan [On
North Korean State TV
proposed Dambusters
remake] Peter Jackson’s
got a pile of fibreglass
Lancasters, and a Stephen
Fry script in his mitts. It will
happen, I imagine.
@martinmcnamara [On
the DART Jet Trainer] Ace
looking aircraft.
@MichaelEdney [On lace @Corsair8X Also, where’s
@AaronMehta Need
and tassles North Korean the typical faux-leather
a US partner to have a
AF Su-25 headrest] Just flight suit they always seem
chance in hell.
as intriguing is the lack of to wear?
visor, pressure suit and
open neck tee shirt
@CopernicusTech Love @PeteNorth303
informal approach.
the vision behind the Fabulous, dahling! But
DARTJet trainer. what about the carpets?
@DADDYJOSE Any crew
chief worth his salt has a
@PeterFarrowAST [On @testpilotpete Loving the
good needlepoint kit.
the projected pilot short- well fitting oxygen mask! It
age] But first question, is looks like a plastic bucket
there really a shortage? @Major_Eazy You should held on with a trouser belt!
Second question, why see the furry dash. Good under G obviously.
does nobody mention the
engineer shortage?
@CombatAir [On upcom- @GotALightBoy [On
ing Seattle Branch B-47 Airbus patenting a Mach
@gcater [On the New test pilot lecture] Should 4.5 aircraft] Not as nice as
HMS Queen Elizabeth be fascinating. B-47 Skylon.
carrier having its own twit- one of the few planes
ter handle] “Petty Officer, that pilots I’ve spoken
@ReadBradHaverly
be sure to favourite that to consider downright
[On Amazon’s proposal to
incoming Silkworm.” dangerous.
divide lower airspace into
drone only flights] Interest-
ing proposal indeed! I
Dr Ron Smith FRAeS
think it’ll be hard justified
considering public safety&
low altitude flying govern-
ance.
@apoure25 Well,
proposal doesn’t change
the fact that 500ft is the
lower limit for manned
aircraft over populated
areas.
1. http://aerosociety.com/News/Insight-Blog/3300/Mission-accomplished-for-Yateley-SBAP
2. http://aerosociety.com/News/Insight-Blog/3338/Electric-aircraft-sparks-imagination#sthash.CTZDmLJU.dpuf
3. http://aerosociety.com/News/Insight-Blog/3248/A-decision-at-last-Davies-Commission-recommends-Heathrow
Online
Additional features and content are available to view
online at http://media.aerosociety.com/aerospace-insight
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www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 13
 DEFENCE
Open source air combat simulation
Sending the F-35 into
virtual combat
TIM ROBINSON puts virtual F-35s into arguably the most accurate
non-classified high-fidelity simulation of a future air combat clash.
J
uly this year saw what seemed like a fairly
damning flight-test report leaked to the blog
War is Boring — where a F-35A test pilot was
unable to triumph over a 70’s-era F-16D with
two external tanks in a close-in mock dogfight.
In the report the unnamed pilot noted the F-35’s
lack of energy manoeuvrability and its restrictive
flight control software led to it being unable to turn
the tables against the Viper.
The story — as might be guessed — sent ripples
through amateur and professional air warfare
experts — with critics claiming that it is yet more
evidence the aircraft is an expensive disaster.
Proponents, meanwhile, lined up to defend the
fighter. The news story, picked up by other outlets,
moved the F-35 JPO (Joint Program Office) to
rebut the report saying: “The F-35’s technology is
‘Harpoon on steroids’ designed to engage, shoot, and kill its enemy from
— Command Modern long distances, not necessarily in visual ‘dogfighting'
Air Naval Operations is situations.”
a high-fidelity real-time
tactical simulator on PC. Simulating more representative
combat
With this in mind, a curious, impartial mind might ask
— how well might a F-35 do in a more operationally
representative scenario? Beyond manufacturer's
slick marketing videos and pithy soundbites about
‘gamechanging’ fifth generation technology, it is
difficult for an outsider to evaluate the F-35’s
potential — especially in the air-to-air arena. Is it
true revolution in air combat?
14 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
Fortunately we now have a publically available
tool to take an informed look at least some of
the claims made for the fighter. To this, we turn
to Command Modern Air Naval Operations — a
hyper-realistic tactical PC simulation/wargame
which models sensors, stealth and other factors
in great detail. Having won plaudits from amateur
and professionals alike in its detailed modelling,
it recently is set to move into the professional
military and defence world through a co-operation
agreement signed with BAE Systems. The game
features a Jane’s style database of aircraft, ships,
weapons, sensors and missiles from 1945 to 2020,
with the whole world modelled and country-specific
equipment lists.
Of course, simulations have been used before
with the F-35 — with a famous RAND study
concluding the jet would be ‘clubbed like baby
seals’. However, CMANO is a substantial advance
on Harpoon-era simulations — with a more detailed,
higher fidelity air warfare model. For instance, it
models the kinematic effects of aircraft losing
energy dodging incoming missiles or SAMs —
making salvos more important against highly-agile
targets. The probability of a missile kill (Pk) is
influenced by many factors — including seeker
generations, range to target, agility of target aircraft,
target aspect, countermeasures and pilot skill —
making for a deep and complex simulation. The AI,
too, is clever enough to evade and try and ‘beam’
incoming missiles — making for a highly realistic
BVR simulation. In the older Harpoon, for example,

missiles could be fired rearwards from fighters, the
air combat modelling being far more abstracted.
While actual stealth performance is still highly
classified, CMANO does provide a more detailed
‘educated guess’ modelling of low-observable
platforms such as the F-35 — beyond just assuming
they are ‘invisible’ to the enemy in game terms.
Frontal, side and rear visual, IR signatures and
RCS (radar cross section) detection ranges are
calculated — and the RCS is even split into two
sets of radar bands. In this simulation, stealth is an
advantage — but platforms can still be detected at
close range.
In this test we are role-playing the 'battlespace
commander' with a top-down view of the air battle
rather than the individual pilot — but in reality
the F-35 is likely to have this level of information
provided to the pilots themselves in the cockpit —
thanks to datalinks and sensor fusion. How, then,
Lockheed Martin
would it model the F-35 in an air combat scenario?
A more plausible scenario
To find a plausible air combat scenario these days
it is not necessary to look too far away from the
headlines. This scenario imagines a Baltic crisis
gone hot in 2020 with UK F-35Bs pressed into the
air superiority/CAP mission. (In reality of course this
would be more likely to be the Typhoon’s role). For
the purposes of this test we will imagine a flight of
four F-35Bs going up against four of Russia's latest
production 4.5 generation fighter – the fearsome
Sukhoi Su-35S. The F-35s are configured for
long-range air superiority with four internally-carried
MBDA Meteor BVRAAMs each — and thus relying
on stealth. As support, the F-35s have an E-3D
AWACS & Rivet Joint. Meanwhile, the Su-35Ss have
ten AAMs each, comprising six AA-12 Adder As and
four AA-11 Archers.
Both sides skill (which affects the OODA loop)
is set to equal and RoEs are such that only contacts
positively ID’d as hostile can be engaged. Both
flights start at high altitude (40,000ft) approximately
300nm apart.
Caveats
Some caveats must be understood before we let
loose the dogs of (virtual) war.
1) This is an unclassified consumer wargame
with weapon ranges/sensor data drawn from
multiple open sources (and very informed guesses).
Real-world missile ranges and sensor performance
therefore could well be better. While the simulation
is undeniably accurate — it will still have some gaps
and discrepancies. One oddity, for example, is the
gunpod which was included as the standard F-35B
LO air superiority load-out with Meteor missiles.
Is this a major factor? Probably not, given that in
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Western fighter
pilots can expect to
encounter the Su-35S
in significant numbers.
Sukhoi
around 15 tests only one saw the F-35 get into a
guns fight.
2) Again, while the point of this test is to see
how the F-35 performs in a more operationally
AS THIS TESTING representative test — it still omits a lot from a
real-world air battle. Support assets would include
DEMONSTRATED, SAMs, surface ships and friendly fighters, as well
THE CHALLENGE as other assets to feed into the electronic order of
FOR ANY battle. In particular, the presence of friendly Rafales/
FUTURE 'RED AIR' Typhoons/Gripens as non-LO assets could allow
tactics to distract and feint the enemy while the LO
PILOT WILL BE F-35s set up ambushes.
DETECTING THE 3) This test is obviously being conducted by
F-35 AND THEN an (extremely) amateur air power person. Those
professionals who get paid to study, teach and train
GETTING CLOSE this subject full-time will no doubt be able to get
ENOUGH TO much better results, more consistently.
NULLIFY ITS LO 4) Rules of engagement (RoE) may well be
FEATURES IN THE different for a real-world crisis — which, short
of WW3, may see civil air traffic in or near the
MERGE battlespace. This could aid (in terms of providing a
clearer air picture) or hinder (if political restrictions
meant visual ID rules were imposed) an information-
age, LO fighter such as the F-35.
F-35 tactics
Initially playing from the F-35’s pespective, I decided
to maximise my stealth by keeping my radar off —
Opening moves even though the aircraft's APG-81 radar is a LPI
— the F-35’s (low probability of intercept). I also aim to keep my
F-35s out of the merge and strike from the edges
ESM suite detects of the opposition’s WEZ (weapons engagement
and classifies the zones). With the EW suite classifying the contacts
Su-35Ss at as Su-35Ss at 300nm I firm up a plan to divide
my flight into two pairs and skirt the Flankers
around 300nm PESA radars setting up a pincer ambush. The
— giving a huge southern pair of F-35s make the first contact and
advantage in dispatch three Flankers with Meteors and, while the
sorting the remaining Su-35S gets a contact using its IRST on
these, it is distracted by my northern pair who go
contacts and active with radar to finish it off with Meteors. The
assigning targets. result therefore is 4-0 to the F-35Bs. Re-running
www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 15
 DEFENCE
Open source air combat simulation
the scenario around 15 times produces similar
results, with scores either 4 or 3 nil to the F-35Bs.
Experimenting with my tactics slightly, I also found
that, even heading almost straight in to the Su-35’s
path and coming inside their radar cone, the F-35Bs
were still not detected — with the results the same.
After about 15 runthroughs with the Su35s being
shot out of the sky, I decided to add more Red
support assets. The first being an A-50 ‘Mainstay’ to
provide AEW coverage and the second a Su-24MP
Fencer F EW variant to provide jamming capability.
Surely this would jam the missiles and allow the Su-
35s to get to the merge? The answer is no. Unless
I take the risk of putting the AEW aircraft extremely
close to the fight, it, too, cannot see the F-35Bs.
Meanwhile, despite ‘jammed’ icons appearing on
my missiles — it seems that the Fencer’s ECM is
ineffective against the ECCM of the Meteors. So
what would this air battle be like from the other
side?
From the Red Air perspective
One of the very useful aspects of a sandbox
simulation like CMANO is its ability to jump into a
God’s-eye view showing all sides, or even to switch
sides. Let’s take a look at this scenario from the
Flankers’ point of view.
The challenge for any ‘Red Pilot’ to solve is that,
if F-35s keep their radar off, it is extremely difficult
for the Flankers — even with PESA radar — to
detect them. The Meteor BVRAAM, meanwhile, with
its agility in the end-game, means that the highly
manoeuvrable Su-35S loses energy dodging these
shots which appear out of nowhere. Even armed
with ten missiles each, the Flankers need a reliable
target before they can engage which the F-35s
simply do not provide.
As a final test — I decided to hand complete
control of the F-35s to the AI, assigning them a
CAP zone to defend and switched to Red Air with
the intention of finally beating them. I also loosen
up the RoE for both sides allowing the fighters
to fire on anything not friendly, rather than hostile
contacts. But, even using sneaky tactics (one
Flanker with radar on as bait, the rest silent relying
on passive sensors) the result was much the same
— with missiles appearing out of nowhere and from
unexpected directions. I finally managed to down
a single F-35B when the AI made the mistake of
switching its radar on deep inside my WEZ — a
16 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
mistake that a well-trained human F-35 pilot
probably wouldn’t make. However, by that time I had
lost three Flankers — a Pyrrhic victory at best.
Observations
This, of course, was a quick and dirty look at a
possible future air combat scenario using the
F-35 rather than an exhaustive simulation and
Ambush — testing that goes on in military or defence industry
The southern pair labs. However, it does throw up some interesting
observations. In around 20 runthroughs, the kill
of F-35s fire first ratio was decisively 3-0 or 4-0 to the F-35s, with a
at the Flankers at couple of instances of 3-1. So what does this tell
maximum Meteor us?
First. The F-35 certainly does not suck at air
range. combat, providing it keeps within its own realm. As
this testing demonstrated, the challenge for any
future ‘Red Air’ pilot will be detecting the F-35
and then getting close enough to nullify its LO
features in the merge. Though CMANO’s simulation
is extremely powerful in modelling kinematics
and sensors and is a huge leap from the earlier
Harpoon, it does not model a 3D ACM encounter
in high-fidelity like, say Falcon 4 or DCS. Post-
merge, like real life, it then becomes more matter
of chance. However, a third playthrough, ironically,
did see a F-35 close to guns range and destroy a
Su-35, leaving the score at three Flankers to nil
F-35Bs lost. In the runthroughs, the F-35 came
out ahead each time, with the worst result being
Endgame — three Su35s lost to one F-35 shot down. As noted
above, professional air warfare tactics experts would
While the last undoubtedly be able to do better. In only one of
Su-35S has a these runthroughs did the fight enter the merge —
IRST contact long and medium range shots being the norm.
on the southern Two. A LO fighter, with high-end sensors to
detect (and importantly classify) targets at range
F-35, it turns to when paired with the Meteor BVRAAM is extremely
meet the northern potent. While the F-35 was able to classify the
pair which have Flankers at extreme range, the Su-35s’ sensors
gone active with were still only able to classify the F-35 as a ‘multi-
role’ — even when it was nearly within weapon
radar. range.
 From ‘Red Air’s
perspective, missile shots
seem to come out of
nowhere, on any axis.
appeared to contribute little to the air battle when
the Su-35s were emitting. This may be due to the
F-35’s impressive ESM suite — or potentially my
non-optimum placement of these assets behind my
fighters. Where the AWACS did make a difference
was in a couple of runthroughs when the Su35s
stayed ‘radar-silent’ – thus allowing the F-35s to
close to ETOS range to passively ID their targets for
missile shots.

Summary
This may be fine in a simulation without other
hostiles, friendlies and civilians air contacts to As noted above, while these simulated tests give an
sort and track but undoubtedly would be more interesting insight into air combat using LO fighters,
complex in real life. Note also that the game is they do come with a number of caveats and should
conservative about the Meteor’s true range — giving EVEN ARMED not be taken (as is so often the case, firm evidence
it an effective range of 75 nautical miles. The real WITH 10 to support conclusion X). Your mileage may indeed
range is likely to be more than this (think the AIM- vary. However, they do highlight the extreme
54’s 100nm range), and the Meteor is expressly
MISSILES difficulty for an adversary of getting to the merge
designed to be lethal all the way out to maximum EACH, THE with assailants who, if playing ‘unfair’, maximises
range, unlike other rocket-powered missiles which FLANKERS NEED their LO and sensor advantages. That is not to
‘coast’ and thus lose energy in the end-game — A RELIABLE say that WVR air combat cannot happen. Leakers,
and thus are easier to evade at long ranges. The decoys and pop-up threats mean the enemy always
Meteor’s ramjet propulsion giving better Pk at range TARGET gets a vote — and thus F-35 pilots will still need to
is modelled — another example of the attention to BEFORE THEY train how to fight in the visual arena, and learn the
detail in this simulation. CAN ENGAGE, strengths and weaknesses of their aircraft vs any
Also, while the Meteor certainly can be evaded threat aircraft.
in a last-ditch defence, as the West’s newest
WHICH THE For those nations, air forces looking to draw
generation air-to-air missile, it seems extremely F-35S SIMPLY conclusions from this single F-16 vs F-35 leaked
resistant to ECM/jamming — despite icons clearly DO NOT ‘dogfight’ report (in reality a dynamic flight test
showing my Fencer F was having some effect. around the stability of the fighter at high AoA and
Finally, a couple of runthroughs with the Meteors fine-tuning the FBW) — it would seem to be unwise
exchanged for internally-carried four AIM-120C to underestimate the F-35. Get close-in with a
AMRAAMs also produced similar results — with four In this screenshot, highly agile fighter in a 1 vs 1 and you may be able
Flankers shot down in short order. the F-35s are to beat it but, as these tests seem to indicate, the
Three — it's the human, not the machine. Smart real challenge will be getting that close without
tactics and cunning outmatch technology each time.
about to take getting turned into burning wreckage.
One observation is that I could have made the ‘jaws’ out three enemy
of the trap tighter and still avoid being detected fighters — while
by the Flankers’ radar enough to put the enemy still remaining Read the full F-35B air combat test
even closer within the Meteor’s WEZ. Indeed one
playthrough saw me head all F-35s directly into the effectively invisible on the Aerosociety Insight blog:
http://aerosociety.com/News/Insight-Blog/3272/Does-the-
Flankers path and resulting in all four Su-35s being to their radar. F35-really-suck-in-air-combat
shot down within about a minute and a half of the
initial Meteor shot — an even better result than the
first test described in detail here.
Four — it is extremely frustrating to play as
Red Air and somewhat unnerving to have missiles
appear out of thin air. While a previous simulated
look at the F-35 (the infamous 'clubbing baby seals'
study) concluded that sheer numbers of J-11s
would prevail against F-22/F-35s facing masses of
Chinese fighter pilots all happily flying into certain
death, here the psychological factors were more
apparent. If one, two or three of your flight vanished
suddenly in explosions and you still couldn't get a
reliable track/lock on the enemy — at what point do
you decide to withdraw and escape?
Five — A (surprising) observation is that the
support enablers I added, the E-3D and Rivet Joint

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 SPACEFLIGHT
UK Space Conference
Merseyside rocks
to the space beat
T
he third in the biennial series of UK
Space Conferences was by far the most
popular so far — over 1,100 delegates
signed up for two days of talks and
exhibits at the Arena and Convention
Centre on the banks of the Mersey in Liverpool
on 14 and 15 July 2015. The event’s theme was
Space-enabled Futures, reflecting the sector’s
recognition that sustainable growth will come from
promoting space-based solutions into downstream
industries. The Society played an important role in
this success by actively participating in both the
Organising and Programme Committees.
Conference plenary sessions in the main
auditorium were interspersed with five parallel
sessions held in the spacious and easily accessed
smaller lecture theatres. In addition there was a
continuous parallel session for teachers — primary
school on the first day, secondary on the second.
This outreach strand of the conference reflects
the role ‘space’ can play in encouraging children
ESA
to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM).
The speaker line-up was impacted by politics
in Westminster and Brussels. The Minister for
Science and Universities, Jo Johnson MP, who
looks after civil space, has undertaken several
space-related appointments close to London since
taking up his current post in May but he was unable
to get approval from the Whips Office to speak in
Liverpool. The Government’s narrow parliamentary
majority was in evidence several times during the
final fortnight before the House went into recess
and Mr Johnson’s presence was deemed more
ESA
14 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
PAT NORRIS FRAeS, from the RAeS
Space Group, reports from the 2015 UK
Space Conference.
important at Westminster than at the flagship
space event of the year. The Greek crisis also had
an impact in that the European Commissioner
responsible for space, Elzbieta Bienkowska, was
unable to accept the invitation to speak in Liverpool
due to the continuing Eurozone crisis driven by
Greece’s economic difficulties.
Ticket to the Moon
The chief VIP speaker was the newly in post
Director General (DG) of the European Space
Agency (ESA), Johann-Dietrich Wörner. Among the
ideas he tabled was a manned base on the far side
of the Moon.
The Society’s influence on the conference
programme was evident in the form of two parallel
sessions that the Society’s representative proposed
after the initial programme had been drawn up.
The event saw The first of these was a session on ‘space
new ESA chief and the surveillance society’. Chaired by Rebecca
Fairbairn of the Economic and Social Research
Johann-Dietrich Council, the session illustrated the advances in
Wörner highlight space technology that are bringing a real-time
his plan for a lunar version of Google Earth closer. The benign side of
base. space surveillance was emphasised in the talk by
Alan Schuster-Bruce of Inmarsat describing the
attempts to determine the path of the ill-fated March
 ESA DG, J-D Wörner, addresses the
conference; the on-stage panel includes
former Science Minister David Willetts and
Britain’s first astronaut Helen Sharman.

launched successfully from India four days before

the conference began, emphasising the importance
of this technology trend. However, a cautionary note
on the proliferation of small satellites in space was

ukspace2015.co.uk
2014 flight MH370. Concerns about privacy were
outlined by Emma Carr of Big Brother Watch, giving
the audience a well-rounded picture of the ongoing
security versus privacy debate.
The other session introduced at the suggestion
of the Society concerned Britain’s Beagle 2 Mars
lander that disappeared in December 2004 and
was found in some recent Mars pictures, intact but
dormant on the Martian surface.
In the mainstream sessions the main news
topics were two reports confirming the continued
growth of the sector in the UK. The latest figures
show that what is now an £11·8bn sector employs
37,000 people directly in the UK and a further
80,000 indirectly. The year-on-year growth of
8·6% through the economic downturn has kept
the industry on track to achieve its stated goal
of reaching £40bn per annum by 2030. Wales,
Northern Ireland and Scotland were all present
in the Exhibition Hall, with the Welsh getting
more media attention than their regional rivals
by announcing a ‘space strategy’ with the goal
of generating 5% of the UK’s space turnover by
2030. However, space activities in the North West
of England, i.e.: close to Liverpool, were less in
evidence than, for example, Scottish space was at
the equivalent 2013 event in Glasgow.
The downstream theme of the conference
was most directly manifested by the presence
of four of the Government’s Catapult centres in
the programme — together in a plenary session,
then separately in parallel sessions. The Satellite
Applications Catapult represented the ‘selling’
side of space-based solutions while the Digital
Catapult, the Transport Systems Catapult and
the Future Cities Catapult were the ‘buyers’. The
growing diversity of the sector was illustrated by
the presence in the exhibition of several universities
and smaller companies courtesy of the Knowledge
Transfer Network stand.
sounded in the session devoted to ‘Opportunities THE SOCIETY
and Threats — Nanosats and Space Debris’, PLAYED AN
indicating that due care and attention needs to be
observed if some parts of space are not to become IMPORTANT
almost unusable due to the risk of collision with fast ROLE IN THIS
moving debris. SUCCESS BY
The conference’s two big social events took
ACTIVELY
advantage of Liverpool’s renowned after-hours
venues. The first was a reception in the riverside PARTICIPATING
Museum of Liverpool on the evening before the IN BOTH THE
conference began. ORGANISING
The second was a mid-conference evening
dinner which took place in the even more splendid
AND
surroundings of the magnificent St George’s Hall. PROGRAMME
A sell-out several weeks before the conference COMMITTEES
opened, the dinner was the occasion for the
announcement of the winners of the 2015 Sir
Arthur Clarke awards, popularly known as the
‘Arthurs’. The evening was made even more space-
rich given its coincidence with the arrival of NASA’s
New Horizon space probe at Pluto.
Space exploration was much in evidence in the
choice of winners of this year’s Arthurs. Not only did
the recently found Beagle 2 team win the Project
Team award, but the Rosetta comet probe team won
the outreach award.
Britain’s next astronaut, Tim Peake, was
absent from the event as he is preparing for his
15 December launch to the International Space
Station. He did join the conference via telephone to
announce the winners of another outreach initiative
— the Astro Pi coding competition for schools
which was described in the June 2015 issue of
AEROSPACE, p 49.
Where next?
Warwick in 2011, Glasgow in 2013 and now
Liverpool in 2015, so where will the 2017 UK
Space Conference be held? If the event continues
to grow in terms of delegate numbers, the number
of possible venues will shrink. Right now, though,
the confidence of the Welsh space community and
the Welsh accents of some influential members of The busy
the organising committee make west of the Severn exhibition space.
a good bet for 2017.

Across the universe

Small satellites were an important theme, hardly
surprising after the announcement a month earlier
ukspace2015.co.uk

at Le Bourget that Airbus Defence and Space had

been selected to build 900+ small satellites for
the OneWeb communications service. Five small
and very small satellites built by Surrey Satellite
Technology Ltd and the Surrey Space Centre were

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 MAINTENANCE

Back to school
RAF Cosford training

In early July, members of the RAeS AIRWORTHINESS AND

MAINTENANCE GROUP visited RAF Cosford to learn about RAF
engineer training. What they discovered was a leading-edge facility,
superbly equipped, with innovative leadership which is demonstrably
capable of delivering world-class training to prepare aircraft technicians
and engineering managers to maintain both current and future platforms.

I
n a quiet corner of the North Shropshire
countryside, the home of RAF Engineering
at Cosford has been undertaking a major
review of its approach and delivery of training.
Traditionally, the tightening of budgets has
been an important driver for change within defence
but this transformation has been driven by the need
to maximise each student’s full potential in today’s
military air environment. The challenge for the RAF
Engineer Branch and Trades is that technicians may
be required to work on military aircraft regulated
by the Military Aviation Authority (MAA), as well
as aircraft being maintained under Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA) regulations, such as the Airbus
A330 Voyager, under the Military Registered Civil-
Owned Aircraft arrangement where EASA Pt 66
licences are held. Furthermore, the RAF operates
a wide variety of air platforms ranging from the
Boeing 707 and Tornado GR4 airframes at one end
of the spectrum, to the latest generation of aircraft,
such as Typhoon and F-35 stealth aircraft, at the
other. The result is a requirement for a sustainable,
professionally-qualified and agile engineer and
technician structure that will allow the RAF to
Technical Training and the Aerosystems Engineer
& Management Training School. These schools
form part of the Defence School of Aeronautical
Engineering (DSAE), along with the Royal Navy
Air Engineering and Survival School in Gosport
and the School of Army Aeronautical Engineering
at Arborfield near Reading (but soon to move to
Lyneham near Swindon). The DSAE is part of the
wider Defence College of Technical Training (DCTT)
which is responsible for the training of the vast
majority of technicians and engineers in defence.
With over 2,000 RAF students receiving training per
annum as well as over 200 international students
from across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, the
two DSAE schools at RAF Cosford make it the
largest aircraft engineering training provider in
the UK. As such, it is proud to be associated with
and provide technical support to external agencies
including the World Skills competition, Women in
Science & Engineering (WiSE) and other schemes
that promote careers in Science, Technology,
Engineering & Mathematics (STEM).
Training philosophy
RAF Cosford

deliver its output both now and in the future.

Aircraft engineer training is undertaken The DSAE has placed the calibre of its technician
within two schools on the Station; No 1 School of at the centre of its training with the aim of

20 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015


Full-scale
Typhoon
generic aircraft
model.
producing an individual who is confident in their own
development and ability, is highly competent and
of value to the receiving front line units. However,
to reach this end state, a programme of training
transformation has been at the very heart of its
business for the past two years. The philosophy
has focused around a trinity of improvements:
course content optimisation, a blended learning
environment and a trainer development programme.
Over a six-month period, the content of the
courses delivered by all four DSAE schools
was reviewed with a clear drive to include only
those elements which are required by front line
technicians. As a result, the RAF schools reduced
the average content of each course by 12%,
ensuring that they could concentrate on delivering
the most efficient and effective training possible.
RAF Cosford
This also meant that students spent less time in the
training environment and were available for work on
the front line sooner.
As for approaches to learning, the past decade
has seen significant changes in the ways that we
teach and learn. Students who arrive for training
with the RAF today are well versed in accessing
information via technology, having experienced
teaching methods at schools and universities which
promote a student-centric approach. Therefore,
the DSAE needed to reflect these methods and
changes to learning if they were to truly give the
student the best training.
In May 2014, the DSAE Instructor Development
Team was established to design and deliver a
comprehensive programme of professional educator
development. The challenge was to build on existing
service instructor training to ensure that DSAE’s
434 tri-Service and civilian trainers were fully
equipped to exploit modern learning practices and
to place Defence Aeronautical Engineering training
at the forefront of innovative education practice.
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Via author
Virtual learning environments
The team were required to analyse the very best
of modern educational research, such as the
applicability of evidence-based teaching (EBT),
combined with the exploitation of virtual learning THE FOCUS OF
environments (VLE), and establish how such THE PAST TWO
practices could be combined and best applied YEARS HAS BEEN
in an aeronautical engineering modern learning
context. The results have been outstanding, with TO MODERNISE
five distinct phases of development now available THE LEARNING
to DSAE’s instructors and lecturers. This includes EXPERIENCE. AS
preparing trainers to become coaches and mentors
for their peers, with the pinnacle of the programme
A SCHOOL, WE
being Modern Learning Champion status, where HAVE ENABLED
personnel are taught to lead sustained improvement THE LEARNER
in educational practice. TO DRIVE
As Sergeant Adam Fitzsimmons, one of DSAE
trainer’s explains: “The use of the VLE has vastly
THEIR OWN
improved our ability to adapt lesson structure and DEVELOPMENT
classroom differentiation, thus improving course AND PROVIDED
delivery. We currently employ the quiz element of ONLINE
the VLE with great success, ensuring that learning
has taken place through the use of consolidation TRAINING
questions, followed by instructor feedback.” THAT CAN
The results of the work of the instructor SUBSEQUENTLY
development team were universally praised
by Ofsted during a recent inspection of RAF
BE ACCESSED
Cosford, where an assessment of ‘Outstanding’ THROUGHOUT
was achieved. With the adoption of their practices THEIR CAREERS
spreading widely across the DCTT, the impact of
the team is set to shape professional educator Grp Capt Adam
development right across defence. Sansom
The impact of training transformation activity Commandant, DSAE
has also been appreciated by the students. Corporal
Alan Thorpe — a DSAE student explains: “I have
found the VLE invaluable; it gives a very modern
feel to every aspect of the course. Completing pre-
course work while connecting with fellow students
Students using
tablet computers
to enhance
classroom
instruction.
www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 21
 MAINTENANCE
RAF engineer training
via forums greatly helped me prepare for the
residential course. While on the course, WiFi in the
accommodation to access the VLE has been a great
help. I also particularly like DropBox, allowing me to
complete work at home and access it on the course
for discussion and editing.”
Investing in the engineer
RAF Cosford
The RAF has not been immune to the national
shortage of technicians and the change in training
philosophy is but one part of recognising the
importance it places on supporting and developing
its people. The strategy is to invest in the individual
through life to ensure that, as their career develops,
they have the right skills to undertake the roles
expected of them. All RAF technicians achieve
an apprenticeship in aeronautical engineering.
This is accomplished over a period of three years
and takes place during their Phase 2 training
at RAF Cosford, as well as through practical
assessment in the workplace by verifiers located
at 14 main operating bases throughout the
UK. However, the apprenticeship training is not
the last time technicians will undertake formal
training interventions at Cosford. They are given
further training both on promotion to Corporal
and Sergeant, with a further course currently in
development for the RAF’s most senior technicians,
the people who will have direct involvement in
managing airworthiness of aircraft and associated
equipment. This will complete the through-life
professional development path but, should they
leave the service at any point, these wider skills will
be an asset to any employer within the aerospace
and wider industry sectors.
First-rate facilities
With an already extensive range of training aids
ranging from live running Jaguar aircraft, gas
turbine propulsion rigs, wind tunnels (including
a supersonic wind tunnel) and computer-aided
simulation, advances in training techniques has not
Propulsion training
classroom.
22 AEROSPACE / MAY 2015
been static. As the site is connected by WiFi, many
A student in students now use DSAE-supplied tablet computers
the Synthetic for the duration of the training. This allows a fully
supported learning environment where the student
Environmental
is afforded pre-learning exploration of subjects,
Procedural Trainer along with practical refinement and consolidation
learning aircraft of techniques and academic principles. Aircraft
ground handling system fault diagnosis training laboratories allow
the instructor to monitor overall class and individual
techniques. progress. This one-on-one tuition builds confidence,
ensures the processes are understood and ensures
that the whole class progress at a consistent
rate. Finally, there is constant reflection on how to
deliver training and initiatives have now begun to
investigate and implement virtual and augmented
reality training.
The benefits of the training transformation
aresummed up by the Commandant of the DSAE,
Group Captain Adam Sansom: “The focus of the
past two years has been to modernise the learning
experience. As a school, we have enabled the
learner to drive their own development and provided
online training that can subsequently be accessed
The RAeS Airworthiness throughout their careers. The use of the VLE by
and Maintenance Group is trained and motivated instructors is now firmly
very grateful to the embedded in all of our courses and the quality and
Commandant and staff at
RAF Cosford for hosting
variety of content is growing daily. In addition, we
an inspiring visit to what, in have removed outdated content and focused on
the opinion of the Group delivering exactly what our learners need for their
members, is a jewel in the future military career. While we will always continue
crown of UK aerospace.
to strive for improvement, I believe the DSAE now
delivers some of the best technical training available
within defence.”
Summary
The DSAE is fully committed to maximising the
availability of trained manpower on front-line
squadrons while minimising the time spent in the
training environment — all without compromising
standards. It recognises the diversity of
opportunities available to its people as well as the
rapidly evolving nature of technology. Combined
with the latest advances in teaching methodology,
RAF Cosford
simulation and training aids, the DSAE is leading
the way across defence in preparing its military
personnel for the challenges of the future.
Join the debate and develop your thinking about our industry’s
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 NASA
TECHNOLOGY
Electric-powered aircraft

Sparks begin to fly

Do electrically-powered aircraft have the potential to become the next
generation of environmently-friendly passenger carriers? BILL READ
looks at how electric aircraft have moved from a technological curiosity to
a practical commercial proposition, offering a cleaner, greener alternative
to fossil fuel designs.

U
ntil relatively recently, the idea of flying
an aircraft powered only by electricity
was not considered to be a practical
proposition. Electric engines were not
powerful enough to propel a large
aircraft into the sky, nor did batteries exist which
were capable of providing sufficient electricity to The development of electric-powered aircraft
keep such an aircraft aloft for any length of time. can be traced as far back as the 1880s when
However, recent technological breakthroughs in the French military La France airship was flown
electric engines, battery power storage and solar using an 8hp electric motor. The concept began to
energy harvesting have moved the electric aircraft progress again in the 1970s with the development
from the realms of an interesting concept to a more of electric-powered model aircraft, UAVs and
practical future technology. gliders. Much pioneering work in electric transport

24 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015

An artist’s concept of NASA’s
plan to mount its LEAPTech
distributed power hybrid electric
aircraft system onto the airframe
of a Tecnam P2006T.
The potential of electric flight was pioneered by powered gliders
technology has also been developed by and solar-powered UAVs, such as AeroVironment’s 247ft
the automotive industry which has been wingspan Helios flying wing which was powered by 14 engines. scheduled to begin flight testing in the
investing time and money into the full-
scale production of electric cars.
Record breakers
Over the past ten years, an increasing number of
small electric powered aircraft have been developed,
each of which has expanded the envelope of what
is possible using this technology with
increases in both speed and range. The
fastest flight by an electric aircraft to
date is believed to be the Long-ESA
which was documented by the US Navy
at China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station
to have achieved a speed of 202.6mph
on19 July 2012. On 9 March 2015, the
Swiss-developed solar-powered Solar
Impulse 2 (Si2) set off from Abu Dhabi
in an attempt to fly around the world
using no fuel. Flown alternately by pilots Solar Impulse 2 lands in Hawaii on 3 July as part of its attempt
to fly around the world entirely on electricity generated from solar
Bertrand Piccard and Andrée Borschberg,
Si2 completed the first eight legs of its
journey, reaching Hawaii on 3 July. During the flight
to Hawaii, the Si2 set a new world record for the
world’s longest solar-powered flight both by time
(117 hours, 52 minutes) and distance (7,212 km;
4,481 mi). The Si2’s circumnavigation attempt is
currently on hold, as the batteries were irreparably
damaged due to overheating during the Pacific
flight and the remainder of the flight is postponed
until April 2016.
Electric aircraft were again in the
news in early July, when, on 10 July the
Airbus Group flew its E-Fan technology
demonstrator (an aircraft first flown in
March 2014) from Lydd in Kent across
the Channel to Calais in 36 minutes at an
altitude of about 3,500 ft.
In addition to technology demonstrators
and test aircraft, electric aircraft are now
being produced commercially. One of
the leading manufacturers in this sector
is Pipistrel which claims to be the first
company to produce a fully-electric two- The Airbus E-Fan electric aircraft technology demonstrator
seat aircraft, the first electric two-seat
training aircraft and the first fully electric
four-seat aircraft. At the Berlin Air Show, PC-Aero
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NASA/AeroVironment
exhibited its Elektra One single-
seat electric aircraft which it hopes
to certify in Germany by the end of
2015. Using both batteries and solar
cells, the manufacturer claims the
aircraft is capable of flying at over
100mph. In the US, Aero Electric
Aircraft Corporation (AEAC) with
the assistance of Arion Aircraft is
developing a two-seat Sun Flyer
solar-electric training aircraft which is
summer of this year.
In China, the Xinhua news agency reported
that Shenyang Aerospace University has made a
14.5m wingspan, single-propeller electric passenger
aircraft for Liaoning General Aviation Academy that
could be used in pilot training, tourism, meteorology
and rescue operations. Named the Rui Xiang RX1E,
the two-seat carbon fibre aircraft has a maximum
speed of 160km per hour, flight
time of 45 minutes to one hour, a
Solar Impulse
maximum payload of 230kg and
maximum altitude of 3,000m.
The electric advantage
The advent of the electric aircraft
has come at a particularly opportune
time, as public concerns over
rising fuel costs, finite oil stocks
and global warming due to CO2
energy.
emissions are making people give
serious consideration to more
environmentally friendly alternative fuels and power
sources. In theory at least, the electric aircraft would
appear to provide an ideal replacement for fossil fuel
aircraft, with its appealing green credentials of zero
emissions and pollutants and low noise footprint.
However, there are wider issues to be
considered. While electricity might seem an ideal
zero emissions power source, the method used
to generate it may not. Thus, while an electric
car will not pollute the roads it uses,
Airbus
the power station which created the
electricity to charge its batteries may
create more pollutants and CO2 than a
conventional fossil fuel vehicle. There
are, of course, environmentally friendly
ways to generate electricity, such as
wind turbines, hydro-electric dams
and solar panels – but, so far, these
sources have been unable to generate
electricity in sufficient quantities to
meet world demand. There may also
be additional offstage environmental
flew across the Channel on 10 July. costs from mining and processing
the metals and materials needed to
manufacture batteries and cells.
www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 25
 TECHNOLOGY
Electric-powered aircraft

Positive and negative electricity for electric gliders at airports using

Pipistrelle
solar panels fitted to a hangar roof or from
In addition, while current electric aircraft designs wind turbines.
offer a number of advantages over Turning to engines, electric
conventional aircraft they also have powerplants have the advantage that,
disadvantages. An electric aircraft unlike fossil fuel engines, power-to-
may be greener and quieter than one How to generate more weight ratios and energy efficiency is
powered by fossil fuels but it is also less electricity — Solution maintained when the motor is
powerful, slower and with a more limited 1. The Solar Trailer scaled to a smaller size. Electric motors can also
range. While battery technology has improved stowage and transport be fitted in different places, such as on top of the
vehicle from Pipistrel which
enormously in recent years, power cells are still can recharge an electrically
wing, to improve aerodynamics and reduce noise.
not advanced enough to generate sufficient power powered glider stowed inside They can also be pointed in different directions. By
to keep an aircraft in the air over long periods of the trailer and also when the angling engines up, an aircraft could take-off faster
time. Large power outputs are needed for take- trailer is empty. and by angling the engines left and right, the aircraft

Pelican Aero Group/Phil Barnes

off and climbing to altitude. Once in the air an
electric aircraft would require power both to keep
the engines turning and to power its
own on-board systems, avionics and
communications.
Designers have come up with a number of
solutions to provide more power. One idea being
looked at are ‘hybrid’ electric aircraft which either
have dual sources of power or generate electricity
from other sources. Boeing researchers created
the SUGAR Volt concept hybrid aircraft (see p12)
which could use conventional engines for power
output requirements, such as take-off and then
use electricity during cruise. There have also been
projects which are looking at different ways to
generate electricity onboard the aircraft, such
as from hydrogen fuel cells. One of the most
promising alternative methods of generating
electricity has been from solar power.
Unlike other modes of electric transport,
aircraft have the advantage of having a
large surface area over the wings and
fuselage to install solar-electric cells
which can recharge batteries. Solar
panels have the advantage that they
Flight of the Century
How to generate more
electricity — Solution 2. The
Regenosaur electric glider
concept from the Pelican
Aero Group would use its
propellers for take-off and
climb and then as wind
turbines to regenerate stored
energy during flight and
descent.
could be steered without a rudder. When not being
used, electric engines could also be used as wind
turbines to recharge batteries while the aircraft is
slowing down or landing.
Current research
Another concept under consideration is that of
distributed power systems in which an aircraft is
powered by multiple electric motors. NASA is
leading a number of research projects, one
of which is the Leading Edge Asynchronous
Propeller Technology (LEAPTech). The first stage
of this project is the testing of a 31ft-span, carbon
composite wing section with 18 electric motors
powered by lithium iron phosphate batteries. The
wing, known as the Hybrid-Electric Integrated
Systems Testbed (HEIST), will undergo ground
testing mounted on a specially modified
truck which will be driven at speeds up to
70 miles per hour across a dry lakebed
at Edwards Air Force Base. The next
stage of the project will be to fly a piloted
X-Plane demonstrator using a scaled up
version of the wings and engines fitted

can generate electricity at any time to the fuselage of a Tecnam P2006T

when there is daylight — both while
the aircraft is on the ground and during
flight. There is also the advantage that
this power source is infinitely available.
In theory — a solar-powered aircraft
could fly for ever — a point already
proved by the Solar Impulse around
the world flight and previous long-
endurance UAV flights.
Solar panels can also be used to
generate electricity locally where it
is needed. Solar-glider manufacturer
Pipistrel has developed the Solar Trailer
stowage and transport vehicle which
can recharge an electrically powered
glider stowed inside the trailer and
also when the trailer is empty. US aero
engine company Bye Energy has also
looked into the potential of generating
light aircraft. Each motor will be operated
independently at different speeds for
optimised performance. As well as the
benefits of reduced emissions, NASA is
hoping that the electric aircraft will also
have improved performance and ride
quality, as well as lower noise.
There have also been developments
in rotary wing electric aircraft. In
November 2013 German company
E-volo conducted indoor test flights of its
Volocopter VC200 two-person helicopter
powered by 18 electrically driven rotors.
How to generate more electricity — Solution 3. Electric aircraft In early 2015, E-volo, together with
speed record holder Chip Yates has come up with the concept Ascending Technologies, did further
of using a fleet of unmanned flying battery packs (some of them static tests on two remote-controlled
based on floating islands) to recharge electric aircraft on a long-
distance flights. The UAVs would dock on top of the aircraft and
prototypes — the scaled down VC18R
then fly back with the used batteries. Yates is also considering fitted with 18 smaller drives and the
the possibilities of in-flight recharging from another aircraft. VC4RC fitted with four original drives of

26 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015


the VC200. With these prototypes, E-Volo will test
all the critical components of the VC200 prior to a
manned test.
NASA is also looking at an electric tilt-wing
hybrid aircraft design called Greased Lightning
or GL-10 and has flown an unmanned prototype.
GL-10 has four motors on either wing plus two
on the tail powered by two 6kW diesel
engines which charge the aircraft’s
lithium-ion batteries. NASA says that
a larger version could be developed to
carry one to four passengers.
Solar-powered vehicles are also being
considered for space missions. In 2012
Northrop Grumman worked on a contract for NASA
to study high-power solar electric propulsion
flight system technology for deep space and
human exploration missions. The eventual
aim of the project is to develop a solar-
powered space tugboat to ferry
satellites from low Earth orbit
(LEO) to geosynchronous Earth
orbit (GEO), saving fuel and
secondary booster costs.
Bigger and better
Work is already in progress
to build bigger electric
aircraft. Having invested £14m in the
E-Fan demonstrator, Airbus now plans
to develop the concept into actual
commercial designs. In 2014, as part of
its electrical aviation ‘E-Roadmap’, the
company announced plans to produce
a two-seat E-Fan 2.0 and four-seat
E-Fan 4.0 for the general aviation
and training market which will make
their first flights in 2017 and 2019,
respectively.
The two aircraft designs will be NASA’s LEAPTech Hybrid-Electric Integrated Systems Testbed,
produced by a new Airbus subsidiary, is currently under test mounted on a specially modified truck,
VoltAir, at Bordeaux Merignac airport driven at speeds up to 70 miles per hour across a dry lakebed at
Edwards Air Force Base.
in France. After that, Airbus plans to
go even further with the E-Thrust electric-powered
80-90-seat hybrid-electric regional airliner by
2050. Propelled by six electric fans
with a flight time of up to three hours,
the E-Thrust would use a gas-fuelled
energy storage unit for power during
the ascent and cruise phase and
glide using electric power while
descending. To power such an aircraft,
Airbus is working with Rolls-Royce on
the distributed electrical aerospace
propulsion (DEAP) concept in which
several electrically-powered fans are
distributed in clusters along the wing
span. However, Airbus has admitted
Greased Lightning GL-10 scale prototype takes off in hover mode.
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Airbus
The next generation. Artist’s impression of Airbus’s E-Fan 2.0 and E-Fan 4.0 electric aircraft.
that, at present, battery technology has not yet
reached a stage to make such such a design viable
but the company is confident that technology will
continue to evolve to make this possible.
Where next?
While it likely that electric-power will continue to be
adopted for smaller aircraft and some interesting
new VTOL designs, its adoption for
larger aircraft is less
Airbus/Rolls-Royce certain.
E-Thrust future Following
concept hybrid.
the widespread publicity generated by the Solar
Airbus/Rolls-Royce
Impulse 2 and E-Fan flights, the most frequently
asked question was ‘when would large passenger-
carrying electric aircraft be in service’? The answer
has to be — not yet, as there are still many
technical challenges to be overcome — the most
major of which is safety. While some lithium cells can
now store large amounts of power, an aircraft would
need to carry so many of them that
NASA
it would severely reduce its payload.
In addition, batteries are not always
possible to recharge and may need
replacing after use. Some batteries
will not operate at low temperatures
and there is also the risk of fires if they
become overheated. It is unlikely that a
certification authority would approve a
passenger aircraft which relied purely on
batteries if it ran the risk of running out
of power during flight or, even worse, of
catching fire. A solar-powered aircraft
would not be able to generate power
during the night or if the wings were
covered in snow or ice. A solar-powered
passenger aircraft might also need to have an
unconventional shape or very wide wings which could
be impossible to handle at airports using
NASA Langley/David C Bowman
conventional infrastructure. However,
such problems could be overcome
with the development of hybrid aircraft
designs which rely on more than one
source of power.
Although there is still a long way
to go, the potential benefits offered
by electric-powered aircraft are still
worth the effort in persevering. Given
the remarkable progress made in this
sector over the past ten years, who
knows what the future may hold?
www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 27
 AIRPORTS
Heathrow expansion

Politics next hurdle

for Heathrow runway
SIMON WHALLEY, RAeS Head of Policy and Public Affairs, considers the
implications of the decision of the Airports Commission to recommend the
building of a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

T
he isle of Jura lies close to the Scottish
mainland but can only be described
as remote. George Orwell, the island’s
most famous resident where he wrote
THE AIRPORTS most of 1984, famously described it
COMMISSION’S as: “Extremely ungetatable” due to limited transport
connections. Reaching Jura will be something Prime
REPORT HAS Minister David Cameron will have given thought to
BEEN ALMOST as he plans to go on the first of his three summer
THREE YEARS IN holidays — one to the Isle to visit family.
THE MAKING AND When he arrives, he might think it could have
HAS COVERED been easier and quicker with better domestic
air links into London. He will find advice on how
THE SUBJECT
this might be achieved in the 342-page Airports
OF ADDITIONAL Commission: Final Report, published on 1 July, and
AIRPORT which recommended expansion of Heathrow as the
CAPACITY IN best solution to bolster domestic services in and
CONSIDERABLE out of London. The report will surely be at the top of
DETAIL IN AN the PM’s summer reading list, after all he wanted to
“properly read and properly digest” the report before
EFFORT TO responding in the autumn.
in considerable detail in an effort to provide a
deliverable solution — technical, environmental
and, to a certain extent, political. Not surprisingly
the focus in the aftermath of publication has been
centred on the politics of the problem for the
Government: previous elections pledges, rebellious
backbenchers and potentially troublesome cabinet
colleagues.
Sir Howard Davies and his fellow
Commissioners came to a ‘clear’ and ‘unanimous
conclusion’ to expand Heathrow, to the north
west of the current site, as proposed by Heathrow
Airport Ltd, due to the ‘more substantial economic
and strategic benefits than any other shortlisted
options’. Alongside the main recommendation
was a ‘comprehensive package of accompanying
measures…to be taken forward, in parallel…to
address its impacts on the local environment and
communities’.
The decision whether or not to implement the
Commission’s recommendations on the location of

Heathrow Airport
PROVIDE A The Airports Commission’s report has been an additional runway presents its own significant
DELIVERABLE almost three years in the making and has political difficulties, but support or rejection of
SOLUTION covered the subject of additional airport capacity some of the other recommendations designed to

28 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015


sugar the runway pill must be handled with care to
maximise the number of potential supporters.
Airport expansion will forever be a red line for
those principally and ideologically opposed. Most
environmental groups and anti-flying campaigns
would never have supported an additional runway
anywhere, regardless of pragmatic solutions to
mitigate the negative impacts in west London. The
Commission’s Terms of Reference were hardly
written with these collectives in mind, rather
those with serious concerns about the impact of
an additional strip but who could be wooed with
sensible, practical and effective means of impact
alleviation.
Sir Howard has recommended that the
Government should support the delivery of
his plan ‘in its entirety’. However, as long as
this remains a political problem, there is high
likelihood that compromises and trade-offs will
form part of the Government’s response to
create enough of a political consensus while
not agitating third-party groups who were
quick to back the Commission’s proposals. The
questions are: can this be achieved and how?
Party colleagues
A large number of Conservative Party pro-
business colleagues have been desperate
for a positive decision on airport expansion,
particularly in favour of Heathrow, given
the economic benefits it promises to
provide and had been frustrated by the
2010 expansion cancellation. Local
Gatwick MPs, rather self-servingly, are
also right behind a third runway. Failure to
support the principal recommendation would incur
the wrath of many a Tory backbencher.
Fortunately for the Prime Minister, he will
be able to count on the backing of his troops. In
an article in The Telegraph on 22 July, Graham
Brady, chair of the influential 1992 Committee of
backbench Tory MPs, is confident that when put to a
Commons vote, Heathrow expansion would win the
support of 600 MPs of the 650 in total — including
the Labour Party and Scottish Nationalists.
Other parties
Labour support would make the Prime Minister’s life
easier to help balance the inevitable rebels in his
own party and Acting Leader, Harriet Harman, has
provided it. Shadow Transport Secretary Michael
Dugher said that: “If the recommendation can meet
a number of tests, including consistency with our
climate change obligations, we will take a swift
decision to back Sir Howard Davies’ proposals.”
However, the Government’s decision is set to be
made after the conclusion to the hotly contested
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Heathrow Airport
Aerial view of the proposed third runway at Heathrow.
Labour leaderships contest (results are due on 13
September). Depending on the outcome, a change
could be on the cards.
At the time of writing, Labour leadership hopeful
Jeremy C Corbyn is ahead in the early polls and is
the current
curre bookies favourite. He was one of the
28 Labour MPs who voted against his
Government
Go in 2009 on the issue and it is
safe to assume he will not change his mind
saf
as leader but it remains to be seen whether
Airports he could whip his Opposition colleagues to
C
Final Re ommission: vote with him. None of the other candidates
port are yyet to declare their views but it is likely the
July 201
5 other
othe three (Cooper, Burnham and Kendall)
would be supportive.
London
L ond dimension
Back o on the Government green benches is
Boris JJohnson, the new MP for Uxbridge and
South R Ruislip. While still Mayor of London —
until 5 MMay 2016 — his quest to undermine the
Commission’s report and doggedly champion his
Commiss
four-runway Thames Estuary hub is unrelenting,
four-runw
despite b being ruled out by Sir Howard in late 2014
over the ‘s‘substantial disadvantages that collectively
outweigh its potential benefits’. Johnson will remain
a headache for Cameron, at least until his term of
office as Mayor expires; but if he wants a job in
Government he would be expected to adhere to
Airports Commission
the convention of collective responsibility, even on
Heathrow expansion.
Better weather for the Prime Minister is unlikely
to arrive with the likely Conservative’s candidate to
replace the outgoing Mayor. Fellow anti-Heathrow
firebrand and independently-minded MP for
Richmond Park and North Kingston, Zac Goldsmith,
is down to the last four and the runaway favourite
to win the Tory nomination. With London-wide and
cross-party appeal, he is the Conservative’s best
Sir Howard Davies. hope for victory but one that could be bittersweet
for No. 10. Labour’s front-runner is Dame Tessa
Jowell, who has yet to respond to the Commission’s
report but is expected to be pro, and edges
Goldsmith in a head-to-head based on the most
recent numbers. Might a Labour Mayor be a better
outcome for David Cameron next May?
www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 29

AIRPORTS
Heathrow expansion
CHAIRED BY
DAVID CAMERON,
MEMBERSHIP [OF
THE ECONOMIC
AFFAIRS The Commission has recommended a ban on all scheduled night flights at Heathrow between 11:30pm and 6:00am.
(AIRPORTS) SUB-
COMMITTEE]
DEXTEROUSLY Cabinet decision
EXCLUDED
COLLEAGUES Despite not having responded to the Final Report,
the Cabinet has not been slow to act. Central to its
THAT ARE EITHER
decision-making process has been the pre-recess
ARDENTLY establishment of an Economic Affairs (Airports)
OPPOSED TO Sub-Committee charged with considering ‘matters
EXPANSION relating to airport capacity in the South East of
AT HEATHROW England in the light of the Airports Commission’s
AND/OR HAVE final report’. Chaired by David Cameron himself,
membership dexterously excluded colleagues
CONSTIT- that are either ardently opposed to expansion at
UENCIES IN OR Heathrow and/or have constituencies in or around
AROUND WEST West London.
LONDON The composition of the Sub-Committee
might well have been influenced by calls for the
Conservative MPs with constituencies around
Gatwick, who petitioned the Cabinet Secretary to
exclude ministers with seats around Heathrow from
the decision-making process to ensure the delivery
of a truly national decision.
Package of mitigation measures
The Commission’s recommendations for
implementation of the full package of noise and
environmental mitigation measures that should
go hand-in-hand with expansion include some
controversial proposals but some of which could be
instrumental in the achievement of the bigger prize.
Night flights
The Commission has recommended that ‘following
construction of a third runway…there should
be a ban on all scheduled night flights in the
period 11:30pm to 6:00am’. Currently, Heathrow
is restricted to 5,800 night-time take-offs and
landings a year. Around 80% of these flights are
between 4:30am and 6am with an average 16
flights a day between these hours. These flights
are of particular frustration to local communities
who have been pressuring their local MPs and
councillors to act to reduce noise.
A ban on these types of scheduled flights would
be an important means of improving the conditions
30 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
British Arways
around the airport; however, it is likely to be met
with resistance from airlines, business and possibly
Heathrow Airport itself. By the Commission’s own
admission, there would be some disbenefits if new
flight times became inconvenient.
Regardless of whether more expansion is
required or not, night flights — or early morning
arrivals — are important to airline business models
and key to attracting passengers from emerging
economies, such as the Far East. Without them,
some benefits from expansion would be lost.
Passengers travelling to the UK from South East
Asia can board flights in the late evening at their
place of origin and arrive in London in the morning.
More than half of the capacity for arrivals at
Heathrow in the early morning is from Hong Kong
and Singapore.
On the other hand, a report published in 2012
by the centre-right think-tank, Policy Exchange,
found that the increase in the number of slots
available from an additional runway would make
it more straightforward to end night flights. They
argue that later opening times at originating airports
would enable flights to take off slightly later and
arrive in the UK after 6am with little inconvenience.
Noise and air quality
An additional measure to minimise the noise
impacts of expansion, and on flight path changes, is
an Independent Aviation Noise Authority. Politically
this could be popular if it is given sufficient powers
to challenge proposed changes to airspace, which
will be inevitable to enable expansion to take place.
In December 2013, the London Assembly
unanimously recommended an independent noise
regulator. In a joint letter from the Assembly’s
Transport and Environment Committees, Members
said Londoners must be confident that aviation
noise levels are being monitored and action taken
if levels are excessive. It urged the Commission to
include the proposals its interim report.
Interestingly, the concept has some support
from business. The pro-expansion business
campaign Let Britain Fly, initiated by the capital’s
business lobby group London First, has been one
of the strongest advocates of an independent noise runway but are confident that measures could
ombudsman as a pragmatic solution to win the be taken as part of the planning application and
‘hearts and minds of people who worry their lives through new national plans legally required by the
will be blighted by noise’. end of the year to reduce NO2 levels. The 2009
The aviation industry itself is more sceptical scheme did not advance because of air quality so
and advises caution. Industry coalition, Sustainable the Government will have to be tough in its efforts
Aviation, which launched in 2013 the industry’s first to find an effective and watertight solution to
Noise Roadmap to demonstrate how noise from avoid too much political dissent and to survive the
UK aviation would not increase despite a doubling inevitable legal challenge.
of air travel demand over the next 40 years, ‘sees
the merit in some of the principles of the proposals Domestic connectivity
and recommends a review of existing statutory
requirements on noise to identify gaps between An improvement to domestic connections into
current and best practices and…proposes principles London and then beyond are paramount for the
such as an authority, if required to deliver best privilege of Scottish National Party (SNP) backing.
practice, should meet’. The airport itself has agreed to try to help secure
There are already currently a range of and create domestic routes through a new £10m
mechanisms for airports to work with local Heathrow Route Development Fund, and through
communities, including airport consultative a review of its airport charges, which could be
committees (ACCs), airport master plans, airport complemented by alterations to guidance to allow
transport fora (ATFs) and airport surface access the introduction of Public Service Obligations on an
strategies (ASAS) and examples of good practice airport-to-airport — subject to compliance with Article
of local community engagement on noise at the 51 16 of Air Services Regulations 1008/2008. London
designated airports and aerodromes. Mayor Boris Johnson has been quick to publish data
In the 2012 Sustainable Aviation Framework, designed to rubbish claims of domestic connectivity
the last Government preferred to encourage good with a third runway, suggesting that connections to
practice rather than introduce a ‘one-size-fits-all’ airports around the country would fall from current
model for local engagement. For a Government levels.
determined to cut red tape on business, the
imposition of a national body at all Political stars align
airports and not just an expanded
Heathrow, could prove problematic Back on the Isle, a glass of Jura whisky should ease
for some pro-business MPs, the Prime Minister’s vacation review of the inch-thick
whereas a clear ‘noise envelope’ report and help provide him with the courage that will
around Heathrow could be more be required to see through a Government decision to
acceptable. accept the Airports Commission’s recommendations.
Similar to the noise issues, All things considered above, the political conditions
air quality, for local people and, have become broadly favourable for a positive
by association, politicians local to decision on Heathrow. Acerbic claims about the
Heathrow in particular, remains creation of a west London dystopia would not be
a major concern and will be a totally groundless, not without implementation of
significant pressure point for some, if not all, of the mitigation measures proposed
the Government. The by Sir Howard, alongside pledges made
by the airport operator as
part of its proposed
Commission scheme. Some
Heathrow Airport

has not been unequivocal of those recommendations

that EU and national air themselves will be difficult and
quality targets would be controversial to approve so retaining a balance,
met with an with trade offs here and there, to generally keep
additional together a lasting consensus will require
nerves of steel. He might think about
bringing a bottle of that whisky back
to Westminster with him.

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 SEARCH AND RESCUE
SAR 2015 Conference

Pressure builds
for UK
The UK’s lack of a maritime patrol aircraft
(MPA) to replace the Nimrod MRA4 was
one of the key discussions at a recent

MPA
search and rescue conference in Brighton,
UK. ANDREW DRWIEGA reports.

I
t would take 400 patrol craft, 200 frigates
or up to five helicopters to conduct a basic
search of an area of the same size of ocean
in one hour. A single maritime patrol aircraft
could do the same job in the same time, stated
Air Marshal Phillip Sturley, RAF (Rtd), during his
keynote speech at a Search and Rescue conference
held in Brighton during May.
As a country heavily reliant on maritime trade,
the UK also shoulders the added responsibility for
the provision of search and rescue out to longitude
30 west in the Atlantic, to a southern latitude down
to the Bay of Biscay, as well as a line north of the
Shetland Islands.
Since the last Strategic Defence and Security
Review (SDSR) in 2010, the UK has been without
a long-range maritime patrol aircraft. This role had
been filled by the Hawker Siddeley MR2 Nimrod.
But its successor, the Nimrod MRA4, suffered from
long delays, technical problems and cost over-runs.
After £3·2bn had been spent, the government
decided to close down the project. Adding further
dismay to those who had argued to keep the aircraft
in some form, the Government actually paid for them
to be sliced up and completely destroyed, something
Sturley found abhorrent.
Arguing the need of a MPA, Sturley pointed
out the UK’s need to patrol its 2·5 million square
miles of Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ). This area,
when overseas territories and dependencies are
included, is the fifth largest in the world. Naturally
the main focus of any MPA would be the sea areas
immediately around the UK. However, Sturley
argued that the force would also be called upon, as
it has been in the past, for additional roles: “There
are oversees commitments, disaster response and
anti-drugs operations in the Caribbean when the
Nimrod was doing fantastic work with the Royal
Navy. Also anti-piracy and people smuggling.”
Nimrods supported UK forces operating with
the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
in Afghanistan and under a programme called
Project Broadsword was given the capability to
transmit real-time video imagery from its L-3
Wescam MX-15 electro-optical turret to ground
commanders. However, the explosion of XV230 with
the loss of 14 crew showed the dangers of overland
missions. However, two specialised Nimrod R1
electronic intelligence gathering (ELINT) variants
continued to be used over Afghanistan until their
final deployment in 2010. The Royal Air Force is
taking delivery of three new Rivet Joint RC-130W
intelligence gathering aircraft with all planned to
be operational by 2017. These will be operated by
aircrew from 51 Squadron RAF, some of whom have
This year’s RIAT been embedded with the USAF’s fleet and ground
stations learning their skills.
saw a US Navy
Boeing P-8 Supporting the deterrent
Poseidon and
However, one of the central roles for the Nimrod
JMSDF Kawasaki
fleet was anti-submarine warfare, particularly to
P-1 MPA appear protect the UK’s own strategic deterrent nuclear
at the show. weapon-equipped submarine fleet.
In a letter to the UK’s The Telegraph newspaper
in May, five senior retired RAF officers suggested
that the lack of anti-submarine capability has

32 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015

Airbus Defence and Space
likely resulted in Russian submarines being able
to operate around the Scottish coast near the
UK’s submarine base at Faslane. This will have
allowed them, the letter argues, to gather valuable
intelligence on the British nuclear deterrent. They
also applied the warning to the future operations of
the two new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.
Sturley also points out that the number
of foreign countries operating submarines “is
increasing every year — there are now over 40.”
During questions in the UK Parliament’s House
of Lords on 4 June, Lord Reginald Empey of the
Ulster Unionist Party asked Earl Howe, the Minister
of State for the Ministry of Defence, what the
government’s plans were for the improvement of
the UK’s maritime patrol capability. Howe replied
stating that their plans were being reviewed for the
forthcoming SDSR (initially due this year, although
the release date keeps slipping). He pointed to the
policy of continuing to send RAF crews abroad to
maintain their experience. “We continue to embed
around 30 former Nimrod air crew in the maritime
patrol communities of allied air forces to reduce
the time and risks associated with regenerating a
capability.”
Under pressure to respond, Howe admitted that
there was ‘a capability gap’ but that “we chose to
accept that gap because we knew that we could
mitigate it through employment of other assets, as
well as through co-operation with allies.”
Howe went on to state that other assets were
able to provide the maritime protection required by
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Lockheed Martin
the UK. “We have the use of other military assets,
as I said, including Type 23 frigates, submarines and Contenders for the UK
Merlin anti-submarine warfare helicopters, and we MPA prize? Above left:
rely on the assistance that we get from our allies Airbus Defence and Space
and partners.” C295MPA. Above right:
Lockheed C-130J Sea
Hercules.
Muddling through?
Prior to this Sturley had argued that such
alternatives were not specialised for purpose and
therefore fell short of delivering the effect: “There
have been substitutes such as the [Lockheed Martin
C-130] Hercules but the crews aren’t trained or
equipped for this role. The crews also don’t have
maritime awareness — you have to work with
the Navy [to gain this].” Sturley did agree that the
decision to send our MPA crews to other nations
to keep their skills current was the correct one.
Helicopters, too, do not have the range to cover long
distance searches from land.
Sturley presented the view that what was now
needed was “a long-term relationship with the
manufacturer or service provider with a gain share
on performance and reliability.” To illustrate this, he
highlighted the difference between the challenges
in operating the older Vickers VC10s and Lock-
heed TriStars for the transport of troops and the
new Airbus A330. “Once we recapitalised and got
the A330 Voyager our availability went up to the
high 90s in percentage terms.” Rivet Joint seems
also to be ‘sensible’, he added. MPA FORMED
The basic need was to provide coverage beyond
250miles from the mainland in the wider and more PART OF A
remote expanses of the ocean. The MPA formed MIXED POOL
part of a mixed pool of resources that also included OF RESOURCES
helicopters, submarines and even, potentially, the
THAT ALSO
installation of sensors on airlines that could be used
during emergencies (the stream of airliners across INCLUDED
the Atlantic is continuous). Sturley pointed to the HELICOPTERS,
disappearance of Malaysian airliner MH370 as SUBMARINES
evidence that a modern passenger jet could simply
disappear. “We need some satellite-based reporting
AND EVEN
system for airliners ‘so we know where the buggers POTENTIALLY
are,’” he opined. THE
Reviewing other options, Sturley mentioned INSTALLATION
the potential use of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA),
applauding their endurance but noting that their role OF SENSORS
was not all-encompassing and that they were also ON AIRLINERS
costly assets. He said that the US Navy’s (USN) THAT COULD BE
Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton programme was
USED DURING
worth watching. This is now expected to reach Initial
Operating Capability (IOC) in 2017. EMERGENCIES
www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 33
 SEARCH AND RESCUE
SAR 2015 Conference
Finally, he re-emphasised the role that satellites
already play in observation and communication
globally and their potential for development.
The government’s position was underlined by
Howe at the beginning of June: “…the capabilities
required from a future MPA have been studied
by the MoD over the past two and a half years.
The study has received representations from a
number of defence industrial organisations which
have allowed us to understand better the nature
US Navy
of the platforms in existence, as well as the
timeframe in which novel technologies are likely
to mature.” However, he did not elaborate further
on the timeline for the introduction of a new MPA
capability.
UK civil SAR progess
During the two-day conference, Richard Parkes,
the director of Maritime Operations at the Maritime
Coastguard Agency (MCA), provided an overview of
the progress Bristow Helicopters was making since
its award in 2013 of a contract to replace the Royal
Air Force and Royal Navy rescue helicopters with a
new all-civilian operated service using new Sikorsky
S-92 and AgustaWestland AW189 helicopters.
The ambition is still for a service “at least as
good as the one today.” In 2013, Bristow won the
contract to run at 98% availability and an alert of 15
minutes during the day and 45 minutes during the
night.
The drive to remove the cost of the provision of
The UK military helicopters for the search and rescue
AgustaWestland role was begun in 2005 when it was announced
AW189 forms one that Canadian operator CHC had won a five-year
half of the UK's interim competition to provide civil SAR helicopters
ahead of rivals Bristow Helicopters and British
new civil SAR International Helicopters. The interim contract was
helicopter service. a stepping stone to the planned roll-out of the full
SAR Harmonisation project which envisaged one
Bristow Helicopters
16 AEROSPACE / JUNE 2015
civil SAR operator replacing all military and MCA
helicopters from 2012.
Although the Soteria consortium — comprising
the Canadian Helicopter Corporation (CHC), Thales,
Sikorsky and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) —
was selected as the preferred bidder in February
2010, irregularities in the bidding process resulted
in the contract being cancelled by the government
in February 2011.
Says Parkes: “New technology means we can
respond 20 percent faster with the new aircraft, the
Sikorsky S-92 and the AgustaWestland AW189"
although he admitted: “The AW189 is a little
delayed getting into service.”
Damien Oliver, the change manager at the MCA,
said that seven new bases are bieng constructed
around the coast to add to three new and existing
bases. All are new with none of the future SAR
helicopters operating from any of the previous
military bases. The managed transition of pilots from
existing military roles to the Bristow aircrew pool
means that around two-thirds of the 200 will be ex-
military personnel. “That is important from the point
of view of legacy, history and experience which is
the element we wanted to safeguard,” said Oliver.
“The service has an annual running cost of
£214m …that’s around $1m per day, with 22 new
aircraft in total,” said Oliver. “The contract will run
between seven and ten years.”
North Sea coverage
Tom Milne, health and safety manager at Oil &
Gas UK, added to the search and rescue debate
around the UK by addressing the co-operative
supplemental helicopter resource that is replacing
the Jigsaw Project. The 2013 award of the SAR UK
contract to Bristow prompted the Oil and Gas UK
trade association to carry out a study into the impact
of the changes on emergency SAR coverage. The
requirement was for a two-hour rescue capability
based on the likely survivable rate of someone in the
water in a survival suit which was three hours.
There are 19 individual oil and gas operators in
the North Sea who are contributing to the cost who
are doing so not only as part of their duty of care

for the offshore workforce as well as compliance
with the health and safety executive’s Prevention of
Fire, Explosion and Emergency Response (PFEER)
regulations. These cover the recovery of people
from a rig in the event of fire or explosion, or acci-
dents such as a person in the sea or a helicopter
ditching. “The regulations are interpreted as within
500m of any installation by the operators,” said
Milne.
He noted that, under Bristow, a smaller
helicopter, the AW189, would now be located
slightly further away from the main offshore
installations. Another point made was that most
of the helicopters used to transit energy workers
were of the larger type with around 21 occupants
onboard. He also noted the closure of RAF Bulmer
at the end of the year and the relocation of the
Jigsaw rescue helicopters due to the removal of the
installation.
A study revealed that, in the future, a gap would
have arisen in the ability to respond and rescue
people within the two hour window period. In May
2014 Oil and Gas UK requested a team to analyse
options, particularly an identified exposure of risk
in the southern part of the North Sea operational
area. A user group was established in June 2014
with the aim to source an industry-funded SAR
helicopter. One of the challenges, said Milne, was
that 19 teams of corporate lawyers had to agree
on contracts for the operation! There were two
contracts: one between all of the users agreeing to
work together, then the second between the group
and the SAR operator.
An agreement was reached and finalised by the
final company on 31 March 2015 and the service
went ‘live’ the following day. The £60m contract
was awarded to Bond Offshore Helicopters and will
cover the next five years.
“We have two L2 Super Pumas based at
Aberdeen airport providing 24-hour operations at
15 minutes readiness (7am-7pm) and 45 minutes
outside of those times,” said Milne. Putting this in
place while oil prices were falling (at the time) was a
‘significant challenge’, Milne revealed but the driving
force was the need to demonstrate a commitment
to safety which was met. “The cost was allocated
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Keeping MPA skills current
— a RAF ‘Seedcorn’ crew
member onboard a US Navy
P-8.
to operators depending on how many passengers
they were flying out of Aberdeen which was their
exposure to rescue risk, as well as how many
people they had on their installations,” said Milne.
NASA update
During the SAR conference, Dr Lisa Mazzuca,
Search and Rescue Mission manager at the North
American Space Administration (NASA) provided an
interesting update on the organisation’s Emergency
Locator Transmitter Survivability and Reliability
(ELTSAR) project managed by NASA’s Langley
Research Center.
NASA works alongside the US Coast Guard,
USAF and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), who together make up the
SARSAT element of COSPAS-SARSAT. This is a
satellite-based SAR distress alert detection and
information distribution system, used in the location
NASA recently
of emergency beacons activated on aircraft and tested emergency
ships worldwide. location
We have worked on the prototype of MEOSAR, transmitter
the next generation of COSPAS-SARSAT. NASA’s
research was directed at deciding on the best survivability with
orbit for finding victim’s transmissions from space. a full-scale crash
“Our payload is now on 17 spacecraft — GPS in drop test using a
particular — and it is working. COSPAS-SARSAT
Cessna C172.
will soon switch over to the MEOSAR segment.” The
first ground segment for MEOSAR was also built
and tested by NASA and has already been working
for seven years.
The goal is to eliminate the ‘search’ out of
search and rescue, stated Mazzuca. “The current
system using LEO spacecraft is 30 years old…and
now needs to be overhauled.” Currently when an
ELT signal is set off it has to wait for a LEO satellite
to come overhead to pick it up. “Right now we are
looking at delay times of up to 90 minutes…and
that’s too long. We can build a better system.”
Moving to MEOSAR, which will be on many
spacecraft up to 20,000 miles up. “This will
mean a web that can detect the signal almost
instantaneously taking out the delay.” There are
three space segment providers: USGPS, the
European Space Agency (ESA) with Galileo — “that
is a huge component for us right now because
they are actively pushing up satellites with the
SAR payload onboard” — and thirdly, GLONASS
from Russia. The combination of all three will mean
continual full global coverage.
NASA has also been working on second-
generation beacons for the past six years. New
technology is being introduced into beacons that
will allow them to transmit and pulse alerts quickly,
around once a second. “We know it is important to
get as many transmissions of the signal as possible
before the ELT is damaged, either through fire or
physical damage,” said Mazzuca. The manufacturers
NASA
should have the beacons ready for fielding by 2018.
www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 35
 GENERAL AVIATION
General Aviation Safety Council
Safety in the
skies
RAeS General Aviation Group Representative
JOHN THORPE FRAeS explains about the General Aviation
Safety Council (GASCo) and its work to improve general aviation safety.
A
lthough it sounds a bit like an energy
supplier, GASCo is, in fact, the
General Aviation Safety Council. At
the September 1964 meeting of
the Conference of General Aviation
Organisations, chaired by the late Air Chief
Marshal, the Earl of Bandon, the General Aviation
Safety Committee was formed, initially with six
organisations. The Committee was accepted for
registration by the Charity Commission in 1965. In
IT HAS NO
1994 the Constitution was revised and it became
AUTHORITY OR the General Aviation Safety Council and more
LEGISLATIVE recently was restructured as a non-profit making
POWERS AND Charitable Limited Company. The 1964 Terms of
HAS TO RELY ON Reference remain just as valid today as they did 50
EDUCATION AND years ago:
PERSUASION ● To collect, collate and disseminate flight safety
TO MEET ITS information among users of UK-registered
OBJECTIVES general aviation aircraft.
36 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
Cessna
● To study all matters affecting, or which might
affect, flight safety in UK general aviation and to
make recommendations to interested parties, as
necessary.
It has no authority or legislative powers and has
to rely on education and persuasion to meet its
objectives.
Sqn Ldr John Chisholm Ward MBE was asked
to be the Chairman, a post he held from 1966 to
1994. In a 20-year RAF career John flew Lysanders
on special operations and was in the Berlin Air Lift.
Right from its earliest days he launched the Flight
Safety Bulletin and, for almost 30 years, he was
GASCo, acting as Chairman, Secretary and Editor
of the Bulletin from his home in Henley-on-Thames,
later gaining the part-time help of a secretary for the
six Council meetings per year. He was the Chairman
when the author first joined GASCo in 1977.
The current Chairman since 2012 has been
Air Commodore Rick Peacock Edwards CBE
AFC FRAeS, whose RAF career included flying
Lightnings and Phantoms, combat in the first Gulf
War and becoming the Head of the European Air
Forces Flight Safety Committee.
Under the GASCo wing
General aviation consists of all private and business
aviation, including executive or corporate operations,
flying and gliding club and group activity, and
commercial operations by small aircraft, such as
air taxi, aerial photography and flying training.
There are approximately 14,500 powered general
aviation aircraft of various kinds in the UK, including
microlights, helicopters and gyroplanes, 1,500
balloons, over 2,600 sailplanes and approximately
4,500 hang-gliders. In addition there are 4,500
regular parachutists.
The Council Membership represents over 35
organisations and has members/observers from the
Air Accidents Investigation Branch, the Civil Aviation
Authority, the MET Office, NATS and the RAF Flight
Safety. The Council thus cover all those responsible
for safety in general aviation, including ballooning,
gliding, hang gliding, historic aircraft, home-built
aircraft, microlighting,
parachuting, paragliding, helicopter flying, large
model flying and, of course, general
aviation aeroplanes.
Finance and
management
GASCo is financed by the
contributions of the organisations
represented on the Council, of which
the RAeS is an important supporter, as
well as from subscriptions and donations
made by readers of its quarterly magazine GASCo
Flight Safety. As the Council is a registered
charity, it also benefits from Gift Aid by those who
pay UK income tax. The Council is represented
at regular meetings of, for example, the General
Aviation Partnership (GAP), the National Air Traffic
Management Advisory Committee (NATMAC), and
the airlines’ UK Flight Safety Committee (UKFSC)
and is represented on the European General
Aviation Safety Team (EGAST).
GASCo is run by a Board of Directors/Trustees
appointed by the Company in accordance with its
governing document. The Board delegates the
day to day running of the organisation to a Chief
Executive, currently Mike O’Donoghue CBE FRAeS,
who is also the Company Secretary. Mike leads the
GASCo team consisting of an Office Manager and
Administrator both based at its office at Rochester
Airport, together with the eight-strong crew of
volunteer Regional Safety Officers which works
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across the UK. In addition, GASCo employs a
GASCo
part-time Editor for the production of GASCo Flight
Safety magazine and Flight Safety Extra.
GASCo flight safety activities
GASCo publishes two ● The hard-copy quarterly GASCo Flight
quarterly flight safety Safety contains appropriate articles, analysis
magazines.
of accidents and incidents and proposed
legislation, airspace changes likely to affect
safety. Its theme is ‘Safety through Knowledge’.
It is sent to all who make a small annual
GASCo
contribution (£16) to the Council’s funds.
Currently almost 1,600 subscribe.
● In addition to the above, Flight Safety Extra
containing short extracts and the latest safety
news, including selected accident/incident
GASCo organised a seminar reports, is e-mailed free of charge to all who
on ‘Ditching and Sea request it. Currently, this number over 4,000
Survival’, in April 2015. people, they only have to ask to be added to the
list.
● The GASCo website www.gasco.org.uk provides
full details of GASCo Council members, events,
links to other authorities and details of UK fatal
GA accidents for the past ten years together
with significant engineering occurrences
selected from the CAA Safety Data Dept
monthly list of general aviation occurrences.
● During the last 10 years GASCo has organised
a selection of day-long modestly-priced
Piper Aircraft
seminars focusing on subjects, such as Avoiding
Stall-Spin, Weather, Ditching and
Sea Survival, Helicopters, Human
Factors, Stay High — Stay Safe, New
Technology and Air Traffic Friend or
Foe?
● In the past the military
authorities and the CAA
arranged joint Military
Civil Air Safety Days
(MCASD) at military
airfields. These
UK GA fleet popular events were
an important way in which to bring both
communities together to discuss local
14,500 airspace issues. The first event for some years
Powered GA aircraft was held in April 2015 at the Royal Naval
Air Station, Yeovilton, and GASCo played an
1,500 important part in helping to run the day. The
Balloons event was very well attended and voted a
resounding success.
2,600 ● At aeronautical events, such as the Light
Sailplanes Aircraft Association Annual Rally, AeroExpo and
The Flying Show, a borrowed aircraft is rigged
4,500 with a selection of defects so that pilots and
Hang-gliders engineers can check the effectiveness of their
pre-flight inspection. There are no prizes but on
4,500 completion they are given the answers, so that
Parachutists they can learn from what they missed.
www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 37
 03 June 2015

GENERAL AVIATION
General Aviation Safety Council

GASCo
● As part of the NATS Airspace and Safety
Initiative, the ‘Fly-on-Track’ website is run on
behalf of GASCo. This provides the latest
airspace news as well as radar replays and
analysis of genuine UK airspace infringement,
see www.flyontrack.co.uk .
● For the past five years GASCo has been running
Safety Evenings on behalf of the CAA to provide
Safety Evenings on its behalf. These are free
to attend and include a range of current safety
topics, provided by seven volunteer Regional
Safety Officers. These evenings are held at
venues thought the UK including flying clubs
and groups as well as microlight and gliding At aeronautical events GASCo rigs a borrowed aircraft with a
clubs. During the 2014/15 winter season a selection of defects so that pilots and engineers can check the
total of 50 evenings were given, with an average effectiveness of pre-flight inspections.
attendance of 40+.
back

In 2014 GASCo organised a seminar at Coventry University explaining the present state of
knowledge concerning loss of control during flight.
The Report of a Seminar held in November 2014 at Coventry University arranged by
GASCo (General Aviation Safety Council) and the Faculty of Engineering and
Computing at the University.
INTRODUCTION
Loss of Control in Flight is by far
the most common cause of
fatalities in General Aviation fixed
wing aircraft in the UK, USA and
most other parts of the world.
Consequently it has been the
focus of much of the attention of
many safety agencies throughout
the globe including GASCo. This
organisation produced a paper in
LoC I (Loss of Control In Flight)
2010 that studied fatal stall or
spin accidents to UK registered
light aeroplanes during the period
1980 to 2008. Its principle
conclusions appear in the
Appendix to this report. The
report led to further practical
research by Dr Guy Gratton of
Brunel University and his
conclusions also appear in the
Appendix. Dr Mike Bromfield of
Coventry University has been
working in recent years with
GASCo to pursue the issues
involved and the seminar held in
November 2014 aimed to
assemble some of the experts in
this field and to review the
present state of knowledge.
● The Council meets three times a year, with
discussions on recent accidents and incidents
and decisions on the action to be taken to
reduce the possibility of a recurrence as well
as proposed legislation, airspace changes etc.
Although a number of the organisations have
their own safety committees it is by meeting
regularly that cross-fertilisation can benefit
everyone. The philosophy is that a real and lasting
improvement in general aviation flight safety can
only be brought about through education and
understanding, i.e. safety through knowledge.
What are the causes and what has
been achieved?
In 1964 with a relatively small number of general
aviation aircraft on the UK Register there was
cause for concern with a fatal accident rate of about
50 per million hours flown. Figure 1 (top right)
shows the annual three-year moving average for
the 603 fatal accidents to UK registered general
aviation powered aircraft of 5,700kg and below over
the past 35 years, together with the fatal accident
rate per million flying hours.
The number of accidents (blue diamonds) shows
a steady downward trend and it is encouraging
that there is no sign of it ‘bottoming out’ due to the
‘law of diminishing returns’. The fatal accident rate
per million flying hours (pink squares) follows it
closely. The flying hours per annum have had their
ups and downs with a marked reduction during the
past five years. Hour’s data has only been available
since 1985, while it cannot be up-to-date due to
some three-year Cs of A. However, the number
of powered general aviation aircraft on the UK
register has increased from about 8,500 in 1985
to the current over 16,000. Of this total only about
66% have a current Permit to Fly or Certificate
of Airworthiness, the remainder are either being

38 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015

 30
rebuilt or are stored. It is noteworthy that, in 30

GASCo
years, the average annual utilisation per aircraft 25
has decreased from about 135 hours to approx 80
hours. Microlighting was only just beginning at the 20

start of the 1980s, now it is a thriving activity with

15
a safety record to match conventional aeroplanes.
GASCo, in conjunction with initiatives from the 10
aviation organisations and, in the past, from active
CAA safety promotion, has contributed to bringing 5

that rate down to a current level of about 1.5 fatal 0

accidents per 100,000 flying hours. It should also 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
be borne in mind that nowadays there is a very
Figure 1. Three-year moving average of number of fatal Accidents (blue) and Fatal accident
different public attitude towards safety compared rate per million flying hours (pink) to UK registered powered aircraft of 5,700kg (Includes
with over 50 years ago when smoking was the norm aeroplanes, microlights, helicopters, gyroplanes, balloons/airships and foot-launched powered
and motorcyclists, let alone cyclists, rarely wore aircraft).
head protection.
Figure 2 (centre right) shows the Type of Fatal
Accident most prevalent for aeroplanes of 5,700kg

GASCo
and below. Only one Type has been allocated to Loss of control
each of the 396 accidents in which there may be VFR
many factors. Loss of control in visual flight is the
23% 25% Low
most common by a large margin with low aerobatics
and low flying next, although the latter has reduced aerobatics/flying
very significantly in the last two decades. The most Forced landings
common factor in aeroplanes is ‘stall-spin’ which
occurs in several of the types of accident, while in CFIT
helicopters it is ‘continued in adverse weather’ and 7%
for microlights inexperience/incorrect control input.
15% Loss of control
Figure 3 (lower right) shows factors revealed
8% IMC
during the thorough investigation of the 396 fatal
aeroplane accidents between 1980 and 2013. Mid-air collision
Stall-spin occurs in 38% of them, occurring during
10% 12%
aerobatics, low flying/beat-ups, forced landings and Others & unknown
flight in IMC as well as during normal flight when
the pilot does not recognise the symptoms until Figure 2. Aeroplanes of 5,700kg and below ― Type of accident (one per fatal accident)
too late. To focus on the stall spin issue, in 2010 during 30 years 1984 to 2013 (Others & unknown includes collision with ground objects, low
GASCo published a detailed investigation, A Study approach, airframe failure, medical/suicide and undetermined).
of Fatal Stall or Spin Accidents to UK Registered
Light Aeroplanes 1980 to 2008, this included nine
recommendations. Nevertheless, the percentage

GASCo
of stall-spin accidents per decade appears to be Stall-spin
increasing. It is also noteworthy that stalling is also
a major factor in microlight accidents, occurring in 14 Procedures
16.5 38
31% of cases.
Space prevents detailed discussion of Fig. 3 Control input
but a lack of knowledge of the correct procedures
and incorrect control input are frequently revealed
18 Flying rules broken
as fatal accident factors. The high percentage of Continued poor
cases where the flying rules have been broken may 27
weather
be symptomatic of the pilot’s attitude, leading to 19.5 Poor planning
them being more likely to be involved in an accident.
Almost every fatal accident includes a human Maintenance
Maintennce
factors issue or pilot error. 24.5
The bottom line is that GASCo’s ambitious
22 Distraction
and wide-ranging activities, which concentrate on 24
human factors, are dependent upon the continued Inexperience
donations from both the aviation public and those
on the GASCo Council — we all share the same Figure 3. Aeroplanes of 5,700 kg and below ― Percentage of fatal accidents, 1980-2013 where
skies. investigation reveals the above factors, which may not necessarily be causal.

@aerosociety i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 39

 Register Now!

CAREERS IN AEROSPACE.COM

CAREERS IN
AEROSPACE
The Autumn UK careers and recruitment fair dedicated to aerospace and aviation

LIVE 2015 Visi

Regist tor
RAeS, No.4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ ra
Friday 6 November 2015 now op tion
en!
AM session 10:00 – 12:45 PM session 13:00 – 15:45

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Afterburner
www.aerosociety.com

Diary
7-8 October
RPAS: Achievements and Challenges
President’s Conference

Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine

Group conduct aerial operations with their Predator
UAS aircraft. US Customs and Border Protection.

42 Message from RAeS 44 Book Reviews 52 Diary

- President
“I was very pleased to attend a meeting of the
Society’s Specialist Groups Committee (SGC)
held at No.4 Hamilton Place in early July. The hard
work undertaken by the 24 Specialist Groups
overseen by the Learned Society Board underpins
maintenance of the Society’s reputation as the
world’s leading learned organisation serving the
incredible range of professions and disciplines that
make up aviation and aerospace today.”
- Chief Executive
“I hope that by now you will have had a chance to
review our new ‘Heritage’ website, as detailed in last
month’s AEROSPACE. We have received excellent
feedback from around the globe on this new
resource which showcases some of the treasures
from our archive of which we are particularly proud.”
Born of Adversity, Digital Avionics Handbook and
Dirigible Dreams.
47 Library Additions
Books submitted to the National Aerospace Library.
48 IT FLIES UK 2015
University teams battle it out to win this year’s prize.
51 RAeS Washington Branch
The Washington Branch host a lively panel
discussion on global aircraft tracking, locating and
flight deck protection.
Find out when and where around the world the
latest aeronautical and aerospace lectures and
events are happening.
54 Obituaries
Professor Sir John Horlock and John Wimpenny.
55 Corporate Partners
Three new members joined the Society’s Corporate
Partner Scheme.
57 RAeS Written Paper Prizes
The winners of the RAeS Written Paper Prizes
for the best papers published in The Aeronautical
Journal in 2014.

Find us on Twitter i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 41

 Afterburner
Message from RAeS
OUR PRESIDENT
Martin Broadhurst I was very pleased to attend a meeting of the
Society’s Specialist Groups Committee (SGC) held
at No.4 Hamilton Place in early July. The hard work
undertaken by the 24 Specialist Groups overseen
by the Learned Society Board underpins
maintenance of the Society’s reputation as the
world’s leading learned organisation serving the
incredible range of professions and disciplines that
make up aviation and aerospace today. The Society
is indebted to all those who invest so much time and
skill to carry on this work.
It is a key strategic aim for the Society to
enhance its learned output and to increase its
IT IS A KEY contribution and influence within the wider debates
taking place in our areas of expertise. To this end
STRATEGIC the SGC considers and selects a small number
AIM FOR THE specialist and cross-cutting subjects that should
SOCIETY TO be adopted as key themes for the Society over the
ENHANCE coming period.
Similarly, each year the President selects one
ITS LEARNED topic as the keynote theme for his or her
OUTPUT AND TO Presidential year. Last year Bill Tyack led the Society
INCREASE ITS on the theme of ‘Space’ and I have no doubt that the
CONTRIBUTION profile lent to this subject through his efforts has
contributed significantly to a greater awareness of
AND INFLUENCE the economic and technological contribution that
WITHIN THE this sector makes globally and in the UK particularly.
WIDER DEBATES The Case for Space report published by London
RAeS AEROSPACE GOLF DAY
Players on the Society’s Aerospace Golf Day were
plied with plenty of water as they played 27 holes of
challenging golf in soaring temperatures. This year’s
event fell on Wednesday, 1 July — the hottest July
day on record in the UK. Thankfully the heat was
not enough to deter our players and a successful
day was had by all.
The Singles Stableford competition was won by
Craig Scolding who was playing for Universal
Aviation UK Ltd. Other winners were: Singles
Stableford 2nd Prize, Simon Levy, RAeS; 3rd Prize,
Keith Calvert, Gama Aviation; Longest Drive, Paul
Doble, guest of FightSafety International; Nearest
the Pin, Neil Swift, guest of Cyient. The Flight Safety
International team were the winners of the Texas
Scramble competition, with Universal Aviation UK
and Cyient in second and third place.
The Society would like to thank the
InterContinental London Park Lane, Cyient, Flight-
Safety International, Food by Dish and Frilford Heath
Above: Frilford Heath Golf Golf Club for their generosity in providing prizes and
Club.
Right: FlightSafety
supplying our players with golfing merchandise.
International — winners of the By popular demand we will be returning to
Texas Scramble competition. Frilford Heath Golf Club next year and we look
42 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
Economics on 14 July revealed that Britain’s space
industry which employs 37,000 people has more
than doubled its turnover in the last decade to
£11·8bn a year and is ‘punching above its weight’
in the international marketplace. The report also
highlights the enabling impact the industry has on
everyday life. Certainly if the large and enthusiastic
attendance at recent Society space-related events
is anything to go by, then this is an area of our
profession that is, once again, gripping young
people.
For my Presidential theme, I have chosen
Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) and this will be the
subject of the Presidential Conference in early
October. It is a complex and growing field of activity
spanning military and civil users; it encompasses a
diverse range and scale of platforms; it has
significant implications for traditional skills and
disciplines; it challenges our lawmakers and
regulators; it brings the possibility to deploy
technical applications of huge benefit but at the
same time arouses fears and suspicions amongst
the public. In short it is a field of activity in which
the Society must provide forums for learned debate
and channels for influence based on professional
evaluation. As the SGC forum quickly concluded,
UAS is a subject that touches just about all of our
24 Specialist Groups!
forward to welcoming back our regular players as
well as seeing some new faces. Please keep an
eye on the events section of our website for further
details.
If you have any queries about this event, please
contact:
Gail Ward, Events Manager — Corporate & Society
T +44 (0)1491 629912
E gail.ward@aerosociety.com
OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Simon C Luxmoore While No.4 Hamilton Place as a venue is
relatively quiet during the month of August,
it is busy as far as the staff are concerned.
This is the month that further maintenance,
development work and reorganisation can take
place with relatively few committee meetings
taking place and few conferences and other
events. In addition the ‘budgetary cycle’ for
2016 begins and we have the finalisation of
‘the half year’ and of course the mid-year staff
‘appraisals’. Finally we have the early September
Council and Board of Trustee meetings to
prepare for which, as you may imagine, takes
some preparation.
WE HAVE A ‘FAST The last three months of this year are
START’ TO OUR particularly busy, with many Society conferences
and events, and most of the remaining days
ANNIVERSARY now booked for ‘third party’ use. This is most
YEAR IN 2016 welcome since the first half of the year was
WITH THE ‘BLACK ‘quieter’ than expected so this increased activity
TIE’ DINNER is most welcome.
We have a ‘fast start’ to our anniversary year
WHICH WILL in 2016 with the ‘Black Tie’ dinner which will
BE HELD ON be held on the date, 12 January, when our
THE DATE, 12 ‘founding fathers’ first met. Details of this event
JANUARY, WHEN which comprises a debate followed by a dinner,
can be found on the Society’s website in a new
OUR ‘FOUNDING section called RAeS 150th Anniversary. Here
FATHERS’ FIRST we will be outlining details of a full range of
MET activities planned for our anniversary year and I
NOT SOMETHING YOU SEE IN YOUR FRONT ROOM EVERY DAY
Find us on Twitter i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com
would encourage you to take a look to see how
you might get involved.
I hope that by now you will have had a chance
to review our new ‘Heritage’ website, as detailed
in last month’s AEROSPACE. We have received
excellent feedback from around the globe on
this new resource which showcases some of
the treasures from our archive of which we are
particularly proud. This includes the photograph
albums of Lawrence Hargrave, an inventor
whose box-kite structure was later reflected
in the early Voisin aircraft designs, and the
anniversary of whose death was marked earlier
this year.
Since the start of the year, we have had a team
of regular volunteers assisting our librarians
at the NAL in conserving certain items in the
collection. We hosted a ‘garden party’ to thank
them for their sterling efforts and a pleasant
afternoon was spent with tea and cake beside
Farnborough’s airship hangar.
We are delighted to have received a particularly
high number of nominations for the 2015 round
of Society Honours, Medals and Awards. Thank
you to everyone who took the time to submit
a nomination. Should you wish to submit a
nomination for next year, then please contact
Tim Caines here at the Society. Later this
month, we will notify all those who put forward
nominations for informing them of the outcome.
An unusual visitor to No.4 Hamilton
Place on 25 June for the Sopwith
Lecture was the Yorkshire Air
Museum’s full-size reconstruction of
the Port Victoria PV8 ‘Eastchurch’
Kitten which was re-assembled in
the Marshall of Cambridge Room
on the ground floor for the day. This
aircraft is not airworthy but can be
taxied.
SEPTEMBER 2015 43
 Afterburner
Book Reviews
BORN OF ADVERSITY
Britain’s Airlines 1919-1963
By G Halford-MacLeod
Amberley Publishing, The Hill, Merrywalks, Stroud,
Gloucestershire GL5 4EP, UK. 2014. 207pp.
Illustrated. £17.99. ISBN 978-1-84868-993-0.
“I am very surprised at the argument that is going
on, and very upset about it, because I never believed
that it was the Corporation’s job to make profits. The
Corporation was there to support the British Aircraft
Industry, to develop routes round the World and so on.”
Sir Matthew Slattery, quoting Sir Gerard d’Erlanger,
1964 Select Committee.
If anything were, in my view, to summarise very
briefly the contradictions of Air Transport policy in
the UK over the first 40 years, I would refer people
to this quotation.
Right from the very start of British airlines
attempting the first tentative steps of flying
commercial air services between London and Paris
there was the questions whether such a form of
transport could ever be self-sustaining, should it
even be so and should it ever be an instrument of
Government policy for both trade and communications
between Great Britain and her far-flung colonies?
Those early years of Handley Page Air
Transport, Daimler Airways, Instone Air Line and the
rather less well-known British Marine Air Navigation
have been well documented over the years, as is
their collective failure which led to the formation of
Imperial Airways Ltd in April 1924, by Government
backing (though it was to be a ‘private’ company)
in the form of a guaranteed subsidy of £1m to be
spread over ten years; but of course there was also
a rider that for this new airline “all aircraft should be
of British design and manufacture.” This refrain will
not be entirely unfamiliar to anyone involved in the
British air transport scene as recently as the 1960s.
Nevertheless, Imperial Airways (IAL) did
reasonably well, pioneering routes to Africa, India
and Singapore while using aircraft which were more
majestic than economic. The HP42 comes to mind.
But the airline neglected the domestic and European
44 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
Top: Vickers Vimy
Commercial, G-EASI, City of
London, of Instone Air Line.
Above: The cabin interior of
the same aircraft.
Bottom: Avro Tudor 4,
G-AGRE, Star Ariel, of BSAA.
All RAeS (NAL).
... it would have
been easy
simply to write
a dry history
but he has the
gift of narrative
as well, thus
making it
eminently
readable
scene and it was not
long before many others
were setting up their
own routes including,
unusually, the railway
companies and even a
bus company (Hillman’s);
by 1935 there were
19 British air transport
companies flying within
Europe and the UK, most
of them losing money.
The birth of BOAC
(British Overseas Airways Corporation) as a result
of the Camden Report (1938) was inauspicious in
that war had already been declared in September
1939. Yet, despite the battles with the RAF (most of
the Board resigned in 1943) and later the Ministries
of Supply and Civil Aviation, the airline emerged
from the war relatively unscathed only to learn that
two other Corporations — British South American
Airways (BSAA) and British European Airways
(BEA) — were to be set up in order to operate
within South America and Europe respectively. The
policy of ‘Buy British’ persisted, however, and was
to create difficulties for many years, right up to the
purchases of the VC10 and Trident. The pursuit
of the Avro Tudor makes particularly interesting
reading.
True, changes came during the 1950s and
1960s when smaller ‘Independent’ airlines were
able to operate holiday charters and apply to fly
schedules on routes not sought by either BEA or
BOAC; challenges to either Corporation were simply
not permitted until the middle of the decade and
Eagle was particularly successful in this, as was
British United Airways (BUA).
The author, Guy Halford-McLeod, has already
published an excellent trilogy (Britain’s Airlines Vols
1-3 — 1946 to Deregulation [Tempus Publishing
Limited/The History Press. 2006-2010]) and this
present book does a great service in helping the
reader to understand exactly how the circumstances
before 1946 were to influence the way airlines were
regulated and allowed to operate in this country and
how these airlines survived. Born of Adversity is an
inspired title to this book.
As in his previous books, the author has
made use of his access to Parliamentary records,
Government reports and journals well; it would have
been easy simply to write a dry history but he has
the gift of narrative as well, thus making it eminently
readable.
I can thoroughly recommend this book to both
historian and layman. It is excellent.
Capt Dacre Watson
FRAeS
DIGITAL AVIONICS HANDBOOK
Third edition
By C R Spitzer et al
CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 6000 Broken
Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL
33487-2742, USA. 2014. Distributed by Taylor
& Francis Group, 2 Park Square, Milton Park,
Abingdon OX14 4RN, UK. Irregular pagination.
Illustrated. £114. [20% discount available to RAeS
members via www.crcpress.com using AKN14
promotion code]. ISBN 978-1-4398-6861-4.
Authors of textbooks on avionics face two problems.
First, the scope of the subject is so wide that,
inevitably, the books are either narrow and deep
or broad and shallow and, secondly, the two main
groups of readers are users and system developers,
both with very differing requirements. The Third
edition of Digital Avionics Handbook, edited by Cary
Spitzer, manages to achieve a remarkable balance,
satisfying a wide range of readers needing to
understand modern avionics. Readers of the second
edition, will not be disappointed by the increase in
subject matter, while the clarity of explanation and
inclusion of up-to-date material is retained.
There is one major difference from the second
edition; Cary Spitzer died during production of the
third edition and a large number of his colleagues
have contributed to the 45 sections to ensure
publication of the book. The book has three major
sections, focusing on safety and certification in
the first section which, uniquely includes software
certification, an increasingly important aspect of
the design, testing and certification of avionics. The
Find us on Twitter i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook
second section concentrates on the technology Airbus A380 cockpit. Airbus.
of avionics with a wealth of examples, including
head-up and helmet-mounted displays, speech
recognition, terrain avoidance, TCAS, ADS-B, flight
management systems, flight control systems and
avionics architectures. Examples are taken from
modern civil aircraft systems for many of these
topics. The third section of the book describes the
current tools and design methods used to develop
avionics systems. Rather than just describing
databus architectures, the book covers the design
methods and tools used to model, validate and
integrate complex systems.
Quite simply, this is the best book on avionics
currently available. While other books may go into
more depth of sensor technology, satellite navigation The Third
or flight control system design, Digital Avionics edition of
Handbook is a comprehensive guide to the avionics
used in the current generation of civil and military
Digital Avionics
aircraft. The contributors to the book are well known Handbook,
in their respective fields and the editor has managed edited by
to ensure consistency of style and explanation Cary Spitzer,
throughout the book.
I have only two minor complaints. First, there
manages to
is no index, which is disappointing for such a achieve a
comprehensive textbook and, secondly, the price remarkable
(currently over £100 in the UK) is beyond the balance,
reach of most students. Nevertheless, the book
is essential reading for both engineers needing satisfying a
a sound introduction to avionics and developers wide range of
needing to understand the design issues readers needing
underpinning modern avionics systems.
to understand
Prof David Allerton modern
CEng FRAeS avionics
www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 45
 Afterburner
Book Reviews
DIRIGIBLE DREAMS
The Age of the Airship
By C M Hiam
ForeEdge, Lebanon, NH, USA. 2014. Distributed by
Casemate, 10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford
OX1 2EW, UK. 2014. 263pp. Illustrated. £23. ISBN
978-1-61168-560-2.
This is a well-written narrative illustrated from
that famed free-use repository The Library of
Congress. The chapters are subject-based rather
than chronological. Each contains an account of
a significant international programme in airship
development that is highly readable and simple to
comprehend. I have rarely seen so much detail in an
English language narrative; particularly in regard to
the exploits of Santos-Dumont, Wellman, Nobile and
Amundsen. The coverage of German Zeppelins from
the Count’s early experiments to Eckener’s pre-war
efforts is brief but concise, though this is by no
means an authoritative history.
There are some interesting first-hand reports
of flights in Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg but a
surprising variation in detail. We are treated to a few
individual Zeppelin raid victims, listed by age and
occupation, though other subjects are skimmed over
with bland generalisations.
Glancing through the bibliography and index
there is precious little evidence of research based
on primary sources. This comes out in particular
in regard to the description of the Imperial Airship
Scheme in the United Kingdom in the 1920s
46 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
leading up to the overseas excursions of R.100 and The Graf Zeppelin, LZ 127.
Inset: Colour tinted slide
R.101; areas of particular interest to this reviewer.
Firstly, there is not a mention of Sir Dennistoun
looking through the navigation
room into the control cabin
Burney, the prime mover at Vickers/AGC (Airship aboard the Graf Zeppelin.
Guarantee Company), nor, it seems, did Barnes RAeS (NAL).
Wallis play any part! The entire R.100 programme,
described as an almost total success, is credited to
Nevil Shute Norway, calculator to Wallis’ team. The
critical comments in his novel-come-autobiography
Slide Rule (London: William Heinemann.1954) —
many of which Norway retracted to R.101 historian
Peter Masefield (listed as Mansfield in the index)
— are regurgitated and embroidered in this work
to the point where the entire chapter should, in my
mind, be ‘ripped out’. The throwaway use of statistics
is completely unfair to the Cardington workforce.
Neither airship is credited for their significance as
developmental prototypes.
There are numerous documents and testaments
in European archives, many online, but the author’s
shallow approach is extremely disappointing. As
with many documentaries and, so called historic
accounts, it is always of concern when one finds There are some
such errors in the subject you know, as it dilutes the interesting first-
authority of the subjects on which your knowledge
hand reports of
is thinner. I hope, for the sake of other readers, that
the other chapters are to be believed, as they make flights in Graf
interesting stories. Zeppelin and
Not recommended for any serious airship Hindenburg but
historian.
a surprising
Peter Davison variation in
AMRAeS detail
Library Additions
BOOKS
AVIATION MEDICINE
High G Flight:
Physiological Effects and
Countermeasures. D G
Newman. Ashgate Publishing
Limited, Wey Court East,
Union Road, Farnham, Surrey
GU9 7PT, UK. 2015. 246pp.
Illustrated. £65. ISBN 978-1-
4724-1457-1.
AVIONICS AND SYSTEMS
German Aircraft
Instrument Panels Vol 2. D
Karnas. Published by Stratus,
Poland, on behalf of Mushroom
Model Publications, 3
Gloucester Close, Petersfield,
Hants GU32 3AX, UK (www.
mmpbooks.biz). 2015. 38pp.
Illustrated. £15. ISBN 978-83-
63678-80-7.
A compilation of
detailed colour diagrams and
photographs of the various
cockpit instrument panel
designs of the Messerschmitt
Bf109E/Me262A, Junkers
Ju87A, Henschel Hs126,
Heinkel He111, Focke-Wulf
Fw190A-3 and Dornier Do17.
GLIDING
Silent Invaders: Combat
Gliders of the Second
World War. G A Best. Fonthill
Media Limited, Millview House,
Toadsmoor Road, Stroud
GL5 2TB, UK. 2014. 232pp.
Illustrated. £20. ISBN 978-1-
62545-000-5.
HISTORICAL
Douglas DC-3: 80 Glorious
Years. G Jones. Fonthill
Media Limited, Millview House,
Toadsmoor Road, Stroud
GL5 2TB, UK. 2015. 208pp.
Illustrated. £20. ISBN 978-1-
78155-103-5.
Illustrated by 70 colour
and numerous monochrome
photographs, an informative
overview of the DC-3’s
operators across America,
Europe, Brazil, Latin America,
Africa and Australia, focusing
on the many (around 250)
Find us on Twitter i Find us on LinkedIn
preserved and airworthy
examples that can still be seen.
Gustave Whitehead: First
in Flight. S Brinchman.
Apex Educational Media,
La Mesa, CA, USA (www.
gustavewhiteheadbook.com).
2015. 432pp. Illustrated.
$24.99 plus postage/packing.
ISBN 978-0-692-43930-2.
A detailed re-examination
of the pioneering flight claims
of Gustave Whitehead (Gustav
Weisskopf) incorporating a
number of reproductions from
contemporary journals of the
time and other eye-witness
testimonies, reviewing how his
aeronautical experiments have
been presented over the years
by the Smithsonian Institution
and others.
From Pole to Pole: Roald
Amundsen’s Journey in
Flight. G J Cameron. Pen &
Sword Discovery, Pen & Sword
Books, 47 Church Street,
Barnsley, S Yorkshire S70 2AS,
UK. 2013. 193pp. Illustrated.
£19.99. ISBN 978-78159-
337-0.
A biographical study of
the Norwegian polar explorer
Roald Amundsen and the
role that aircraft were to play
in his attempts to reach the
North Pole, the explorer and
five companions losing their
own lives on 18 June 1928
in a Latham 47 flying boat
while searching for the crew
of Umberto Nobile’s crashed
Italia airship.
The Ultimate Flying Wings
of the Luftwaffe. J Miranda.
Fonthill Media Limited, Millview
House, Toadsmoor Road,
Stroud GL5 2TB, UK. 2015.
248pp. Illustrated. £25. ISBN
978-1-78155-372-5.
Numerous line-
arrangement diagrams
illustrate this compilation
of summary descriptions of
the many advanced aircraft,
rockets, bombs and ejection
seats under development
in Germany during WW2,
including the Blohm und Voss
BV155 Karawanken/P177/
f Find us on Facebook
P179/P192/P193/P194/
P204/P205/P207/P208/
P237/BV246 B Hagelkorn,
Dornier P247/P353/Focke-
Wulf Honhenjager/Heinkel He
P1076/Henschel P75/P130/
Hs298 Luftkampfrakete,
Lipppisch 8-334 [Me334],
Skoda-Kauba V5, Gotha P56/
P57, Ruhrstahl 8-344 [X-4]
Jagerrakete and their variants
among other project designs.
The Boulton Paul Balliol:
the Last Merlin-Powered
Aircraft. A Brew. Fonthill
Media Limited, Millview House,
Toadsmoor Road, Stroud
GL5 2TB, UK. 2015. 128pp.
Illustrated. £14.99. ISBN 978-
1-78155-361-9.
Illustrated by many
previously unpublished
photographs, a detailed history
of the evolution of Boulton
Paul’s final aircraft design to go
into production, from becoming
the first aircraft to be powered
by a single prop-jet to its later
transition as the last piston-
engined advanced trainer in
the Royal Air Force powered
by the Rolls-Royce Merlin as it
evolved from the P108, T2 and
Sea Balliol T21.
Tornado F3: a Navigator’s
Eye on Britain’s Last
Interceptor. D Gledhill.
Fonthill Media Limited, Millview
House, Toadsmoor Road,
Stroud GL5 2TB, UK. 2015.
320pp. Illustrated. £25. ISBN
978-1-78155-307-7.
Tuploev Tu-128 ‘Fiddler’.
A Dawes et al. Fonthill Media
Limited, Millview House,
Toadsmoor Road, Stroud
GL5 2TB, UK. 2014. 464pp.
Illustrated. £35. ISBN 978-1-
78155-404-3.
Schneider Trophy Aircraft
1913-1931. D N James.
Fonthill Media Limited, Millview
House, Toadsmoor Road,
Stroud GL5 2TB, UK. 2015.
368pp. Illustrated. £40. ISBN
978-1-78155-418-0.
Incorporating many
additional photographs, a
welcome new enlarged-format
www.aerosociety.com
edition of this informative
compilation of detailed
histories of the individual
aircraft types (and of the other
designs under consideration)
which competed in the
Schneider Trophy seaplane
contests, originally published
by Putnam in 1981.
British Propeller Makers
of WW1: Parts One — Five
(5 vols). B Gardner. Circadian
(UK) Ltd, Barnsdale House,
Barnsdale Mews, Campsall,
Doncaster DN6 9RH, UK.
(http://www.aeroclocks.
com ). 2010-2012. 141pp;
183pp; 182pp; 172pp; 174pp.
Illustrated.
Arranged alphabetically
by manufacturer from
The Aircraft Construction
Company through to Wolseley
Motors Limited and including
individual drawing numbers
when known, these well-
illustrated volumes provide a
detailed account of aircraft
propeller production in Britain
during WW1 and the 122
propeller manufacturers
then in operation. Part
One covers The Aircraft
Construction Company to
Boulton & Paul; Part Two
— The British and Colonial
Aeroplane Company to the
Falcon Airscrew Company;
Part Three — The Farringdon
Engineering Company to the
Lang Propeller Company; Part
Four — The London Aircraft
Company to Frederick Sage &
Co; Part Five — Saunders Ltd
to Wolseley Motors Limited.
Langley: Man of Science
and Flight. J G Vaeth. The
Ronald Press Company, New
York. 1966. 117pp. Illustrated.
A biography of Samuel
Pierpont Langley (1834-
1906) who, under the
auspices of the Smithsonian
Institution, of which Langley
was its third Secretary,
developed a series of steam-
powered tandem-wing model
aeroplanes and was later to
develop his design into a full-
size man-carrying machine,
his tandem monoplane
‘Aerodrome’ crashing into the
Potomac River south-east of
Washington for the second
time on 8 December 1903 —
a few days before the Wright
Brothers’ successful first
flight.
LIGHTER-THAN-AIR
The Zeppelin. M Belafi. Pen
& Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword
Books, 47 Church Street,
Barnsley, S Yorkshire S70 2AS,
UK. 2015. 211pp. Illustrated.
£30. ISBN 978-1-47382-
785-1.
SERVICE AVIATION
Commanding Far Eastern
Skies: a Critical Analysis
of the Royal Air Force
Superiority Campaign in
India, Burma and Malaya
1941-1945. P Preston-Hough.
Helion & Company Limited,
26 Willow Road, Solihull, B91
1UE, UK. 2015. Distributed by
Casemate, 10 Hythe Bridge
Street, Oxford OX1 2EW.
320pp. Illustrated. £29.95.
ISBN 978-1-91029444-4.
Rapid Rundown: RAF
Operations in the Middle
and Far East 1945-1948. S
Gifford. Fonthill Media Limited,
Millview House, Toadsmoor
Road, Stroud GL5 2TB, UK.
2014. 304pp. Illustrated. £25.
ISBN 978-1-78155-341-1.
Incorporating the
recollections of many who were
involved, a detailed account of
the Royal Air Force’s operations
in the immediate post-war
years in Palestine, Iraq, Cyprus,
Aden, India, Ceylon and further
afield in Malaya, Singapore,
Siam, Indo-China, Japan and
The Netherlands East Indies,
including its involvement in
the beginnings of the Malayan
Emergency.
The Little Blitz: the
Luftwaffe’s Last Attack on
London. J Conen. Fonthill
Media Limited, Millview House,
Toadsmoor Road, Stroud
GL5 2TB, UK. 2014. 128pp.
Illustrated. £14.99. ISBN 978-
1-78155-308-4.
A detailed history of the
Luftwaffe’s offensive over
London of January-April 1944
as part of Operation Steinbock
and the effect the air raids
had on the civil population and
government authorities.
For further information
contact the National
Aerospace Library.
T +44 (0)1252 701038
or 701060
E hublibrary@aerosoci-
ety.com
SEPTEMBER 2015 47
 Afterburner
Society News
IT FLIES UK 2015
Glyndwr University soars
to joint first place
Entries were of an extremely high standard this year,
resulting in a tied win between Glyndwr University
and The University of Dayton, Ohio.
Peter Webster, team leader for the Airbus
apprentice team from Glyndwr University writes:
As an engineer, the opportunity to have a test
pilot fly one of your aircraft designs is a honour
reserved to a select few. Yet it was in this privileged
position that four of my fellow Airbus apprentices
and I found ourselves recently, when Dave
Southwood, test pilot on the Tornado GR1, Jaguar
and Buccaneer, flew our glider as part of the annual
IT FLIES UK competition at Swansea University on
10 June.
The journey began many months earlier
when we assembled the team and decided that
modelling a glider would be a great challenge,
giving us experience in aerodynamics, flight control
and aircraft design. Furthermore, with the latest
Airbus-sponsored projects, such as the Perlan II
high-altitude glider and the eGenius electric aircraft
both closely resembling classic glass-fibre gliders,
we proposed that an accurate, verified model of a
glider would act as an ideal benchmark for future
experimentation with structural and aerodynamic
improvements.
My own fascination with flight started at a young
age and was bolstered by experiences gliding in
Scotland, where eternal battles with the weather
provided the inspiration to create a full motion
gliding simulator, with realistic modelling throughout
the flight envelope. This gliding experience also
proved pivotal in allowing us to accurately assess
the handling of our model in Glyndwr University’s
MP521 Engineering Flight Simulator.
Many a long evening after work was spent
calculating data using computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) software alongside experimental wind-tunnel
data. This was fed into the simulator and, piece by
piece, a virtual model was ‘manufactured’ from our
CAD model. Among the most exciting moments was
the first flight, although the simulator may present
considerably less risk than an actual test flight, there
was a palpable sense of nervous energy in the room
as we set up the flight and prepared to launch. This
was followed by a challenging, exciting and very
educational process of refining the design through a
series of flight tests.
The competition day itself was very interesting,
with the team of judges commentating throughout
each test flight, allowing us to learn from the
achievements and mistakes of others. Our own
48 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
The joint winning team from
The University of Dayton,
with their test pilot Gordon
McClymont. Gordon teaches
at ETPS, and has been a pilot
for the Shuttleworth vintage
aircraft collection — hence
he was keen to fly the ‘Silver
Bird’.
presentation allowed us to explain the rationale
behind the glider, and discuss the methodology
used for the design and flight testing. After this, all
that remained was for Dave Southwood, our test
pilot judge, to assess it for himself; as he strapped
in, he reminded us that he’d just spent several
weeks on holiday soaring every day! The post-flight
briefing was invaluable, giving us ideas for future
improvements and highlighting areas where our
model excelled. He particularly enjoyed the extra
tests we designed, which included a simulated cable
failure and some aerobatics.
Dave commented on the Glyndwr glider: “What
we always look for in a model is whether or not it
flies like it looks, particularly with respect to the
THE PROJECT inertia characteristics, flying control layout and
HAS GIVEN overall aerodynamic configuration. This model
faithfully represented all of the performance and
US A GREAT flying qualities characteristics of such a glider. Novel
INSIGHT INTO use of initialisation parameters even allowed a
THE NATURE launch and cable-break manoeuvre to be flown. If
simulators could model the lift in the atmosphere, I
OF AIRCRAFT could have soared for hours with this model!”
DESIGN Although balancing the demands of both
AND FLIGHT university and work alongside a project like this
was a challenge, the team’s combination of work
TESTING. WE’VE experience, theoretical knowledge, and flight
EXPERIENCED experience proved to be an ideal combination.
FIRST-HAND We were delighted and honoured to be awarded
joint first prize with the University of Dayton, who
HOW SMALL simulated the Wright Flyer Silver Bird.
CHANGES The project has given us a great insight into the
nature of aircraft design and flight testing. We’ve
IN THE experienced first-hand how small changes in the
DESIGN CAN design can dramatically alter the handling and
DRAMATICALLY efficiency of the final aircraft. I know I speak for
the whole team when I say it’s enthused us to take
ALTER THE the design further next year, and beyond that has
HANDLING AND inspired us to work on future aircraft designs in our
EFFICIENCY careers. Our thanks go to Airbus, Glyndwr University,
the judging panel and Merlin Flight Simulation
OF THE FINAL Group who provided such a great opportunity.
AIRCRAFT On behalf of the Airbus/Glyndwr University
team: Jonathan Aragon-Escobosa, Awais Munawar,
James Tudor, Peter Webster and Nathan-James
Wong.
Meanwhile, Alex Watt and Matt Pulfer from The
University of Dayton entered a simulation of the
Wright Flyer Silver Bird.
Dave Southwood quoted: “This was a fascinating
model of a modern replica of a very old aeroplane,
an interesting challenge. The team compared the
characteristics of their model with experimental data
plus anecdotal data from pilots who had flown the
replica, a very thorough approach. Sadly the replica
aircraft had been lost in an accident, and it was very
interesting that the flying qualities of the model
were consistent with reports of the behaviour of the
aircraft when the accident occurred. This appeared
to be an excellent simulation of The Silver Bird.”
Alex and Matt flew over from Dayton to showcase our work in the UK was something that I The Glyndwr team of Airbus
compete, staying on campus at Swansea. will never forget.” apprentices with Dave
Southwood.
Alex commented: “Having experienced the US
competition, it truly was a treat to compete in the IT FLIES UK 2015 results:
UK competition. The designs and projects were
all extremely innovative and I enjoyed seeing what First: The University of Dayton, Ohio, and Glyndwr
students had to offer from another continent. The University
competition is such a great event for students who Best Presentation/Technical Information Prize:
share the same passion for the aerospace industry, Swansea’s Team Ostrich
and the flight sim is such a unique way to learn and Prize for the Most Innovative Design: Swansea’s
grow as aerospace engineers. The opportunity to Team SOAR

Greener by Design Workshop Women in Aviation and

Aerospace Committee

SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS:
CONTRAIL-CIRRUS, OTHER NON-CO2 TECHNOLOGY & DIVERSITY
EFFECTS AND SMART FLYING

LONDON / 22 OCTOBER 2015 LONDON / 30 OCTOBER 2015

This event will bring together Aerospace companies are
the atmospheric science and increasingly focusing on
civil aircraft communities green issues.
to consider the non-CO2
aviation effects on climate What are the issues that
and how, through the need attention? How are they
reduction of contrails and being addressed? What role
cirrus cloud formation, these does diversity play in this?
can be substantially reduced.
This conference will
Organisations taking part
also discuss the need to
at this event include: DLR,
encourage women to enter,
NATS, University of Reading,
and stay in, the aerospace
MIT, Committee on Climate
industry.
Change and Cranfield
University. Image: DLR

www.aerosociety.com/contrail-cirrus www.aerosociety.com/events

Sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities are available at this event. Sponsor

To find out more, please contact conference@aerosociety.com or call

+44 (0) 20 7670 4345.
 Afterburner
Society News
RAeS AIR TRANSPORT GROUP
SAE 2015 Integrated Vehicle Health
Management and Maintenance
Credits Workshop
The SAE 2105 IVHM and Maintenance
Credits Workshop was held on 27 April at Cranfield
University in Cranfield, UK. Organised by SAE in
partnership with the Royal Aeronautical Society
and Cranfield University and sponsored by
Boeing, the event attracted more than 40 leaders
and subject-matter experts in Integrated Vehicle
Health Management (IVHM), including participants
from operators and MROs, industry, regulatory
agencies, research facilities and academia.
The workshop included opening remarks from
Dr Richard Greaves, 2015 SAE president and Chief
of Technology Officer Emeritus, Meggitt PLC, and
Martin Broadhurst OBE, now President of the Royal
Aeronautical Society. This was followed by three
‘Future State’ presentations from Etihad
Airways, Lufthansa Technik and AgustaWestland,
which covered the benefits and considerations of
operating and maintaining a fleet with IVHM
capability.
The event was also highlighted by three
interactive workshops:
The ‘Working with the Regulator’ workshop led
by EASA discussed the current regulatory and
maintenance practice landscape and identified
the actions needed for the certification and
operation of IVHM systems.
The ‘Maintenance Credits’ workshop led by
Rolls-Royce covered the process towards
attaining credits for using IVHM systems and
capabilities for maintenance tasks.
The ‘Data Interoperability’ workshop led by KLM
focused on the need for data interoperability in
50 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
helping to build empirical evidence to support
maintenance credits.
This event built on the previous ‘Civil Aircraft
Technology Enabled Services — A First Step
Towards Achieving Maintenance Credits’ workshop
organised by the RAeS Air Transport Group in
partnership with SAE International, which was held
in London in October 2014. This followed two
previous RAeS conferences on this theme.
White papers on each of the three topics —
engagements with regulators, the maintenance
credits process and data interoperability — that
resulted from the 2014 event were discussed at the
April workshop and will be updated to incorporate
the workshop discussions.
The SAE 2105 IVHM Workshop looked at the role
of standards in supporting IVHM technologies and
THE operation and was co-located with the SAE HM-1
WORKSHOPS Integrated Vehicle Health Management committee
meeting, which was held at Cranfield University
IDENTIFIED 28-30 April.
POTENTIAL In conclusion, it was a very constructive day
where the delegates built up a positive relationship
AREAS OF IVHM between industry and the regulators. The workshops
APPLICATIONS identified potential areas of IVHM applications
THAT COULD that could be deployed within the existing
regulatory rules. The paths to address more
BE DEPLOYED complicated applications were explored. A follow-up
WITHIN THE workshop is being planned, and this community will
EXISTING support further development of IVHM technologies
and the development of an industry-wide approach
REGULATORY towards achieving maintenance credits for using
RULES IVHM technologies.
RAeS WASHINGTON BRANCH
Global Aircraft
Tracking, Locating
and Flight Deck
Protection
The Washington Branch held a lively discussion on
14 May on the critical issue of global aircraft
tracking, locating lost aircraft and protecting flight
decks from malicious interference. John Moloney,
Boeing Director Transportation Policy, welcomed the
RAeS to the new Boeing offices serving Washington,
DC. Robert Francis, former Chairman NTSB and
past Chairman of the RAeS Washington Branch,
welcomed more than 80 participants to the session
and thanked the sponsors, Airbus, Boeing, Northrop
Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney and
Rolls-Royce.
RAeS Board member Kenneth Quinn,
Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP,
moderated the panel with his ‘no holds barred’ style.
He asked the controversial questions and
stimulated a provocative discussion which included
the audience participants. Captain Kevin Hiatt, a
pilot and the recently appointed Senior Vice
President for Safety and Flight Operations,
International Air Transport Association (IATA),
presented the airline view of the issues. His
perspective as both a commercial pilot and the
representative of the airlines, provided an unique
perspective for airline management. Captain Keith
Hagy, Director, Engineering and Safety for the
Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), the leading airline
pilot union in the world which represents more than
51,000 pilots, provided a view from the cockpit
and John DeLisi, Director, Office of Aviation Safety
for the US National Transportation Safety Board,
contributed his expertise as an aircraft accident and
incident investigator.
The panel began the discussion with the
recognition that commercial aviation is based on the
principles of co-operation. Airline management and
pilots co-operate with air traffic navigation service
providers (ANSPs) for the operation of flight safely
around the world. Aircraft are equipped to be
recognised and tracked by ANSPs. Airline
procedures support the mutual co-ordination and
co-operation between flight crews and ANSPs. Both
the Malaysia Airline flight MS370 and Germanwings
flight 9525 broke the rule of co-operation.
Questions were raised as to why transponders
can be turned off and the use of cameras in the
cockpit to provide video to support the data and
Above: The Panel: Capt Keith voice recorders. Hagy contended that for safety in
Hagy, Director, Engineering the event of a fire the pilot needed the ability to turn
and Safety, ALPA; Capt
Kevin Hiatt, Senior Vice
off the transponder. He opposed the use of cameras
President, Safety and Flight in the cockpit as a distraction to good accident
Operations, IATA; Kenneth P investigation. DeLisi refuted both positions and
Quinn, Partner, Pillsbury; and provided support for transponders kept on and the
John DeLisi, Director, Office
use of cameras in the cockpit as providing additional
of Aviation Safety, National
Transportation Safety Board. data to analyse, as opposed to being distracting.
Discussion then moved to the government’s
lagging adoption of satellite-based technologies to
track aircraft. Hiatt provided an excellent overview
of the current systems in place to track and locate
aircraft and presented the recommendations of the
IATA Aircraft Tracking Task Force (ATTF)
recommendations to the International Civil Aviation
QUESTIONS Organization (ICAO). The ATTF report notes that
WERE RAISED there are many technologies and services available
today to improve global aircraft tracking and
AS TO WHY encourages airlines to adopt these technologies
TRANSPONDERS and implement the tracking solution best-suited
to their specific operational needs. The ATTF also
CAN BE TURNED recommended that ANSPs are encouraged to adopt
OFF AND THE USE performance-based management of air space.
OF CAMERAS IN Quinn wrapped up the session with a
reflection on the need for the global aviation
THE COCKPIT TO industry to continue to pursue better solutions for
PROVIDE VIDEO tracking and locating aircraft.
TO SUPPORT THE
Dr Tulinda Larsen
DATA AND VOICE Member Board of Directors on behalf of Branch
RECORDERS Secretary

Find us on Twitter i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 51

 Afterburner
Diary
EVENTS www.aerosociety/events LECTURES
7 September
The Vickers Wellington
Dr Steve Bond
Historical Group Lecture
16 September
Future Trends in Certification of Advanced Technology
Structures
Structures and Materials Group Conference
National Composites Centre, Bristol
Boeing
Dassault Etendard IVB at RAE Thurleigh, near Bedford, in 1960. RAE Bedford will be discussed by
Barry Tomlinson at Cosford on 17 September. RAeS (NAL).
BEDFORD
ARA Social Club, Manton
Lane, Bedford. 7 pm. Marylyn
Wood, T +44 (0)1933 353517.
9 September — The
Airlander project. David
23-24 September
Stewart, Head of Flight
Flight Crew Instruction — Selection, Skills and Supply
Sciences, Hybrid Air Vehicles.
International Flight Crew Training Conference
14 October — The ESA
Rosetta Mission: Flying around
23 September a Comet. Dr Colin Snodgrass,
Capt Ray Jones Lecture Open University.
Flight Simulation Group Named Lecture 11 November — Flying the
Shuttleworth Collection. Roger
30 September
‘Dodge’ Bailey, Chief Pilot.
Admissibility of Air Accident Reports in Court Proceedings
Air Law Group Seminar
BIRMINGHAM,
6 October WOLVERHAMPTON AND
Aeromedical Aspects of Flight Simulation COSFORD
Dr Helen Hoar, AME/Pilot, Virgin Atlantic Airways The National Cold War
Aerospace Medicine Group Lecture Museum, RAF Cosford. 7 pm.
Chris Hughs, T +44 (0)1902
7-8 October 844523.
RPAS — Achievements and Challenges 17 September — Wings
President’s Conference over Thurleigh — flight
research at the Royal Aircraft
14 October Establishment Bedford: 1952-
100 Years of Accident Investigation — What’s Next? 2001. Barry Tomlinson.
AAIB Centenary Conference 15 October — Flying and
displaying historic vintage
19 October aircraft. Rod Dean.
UK Wind-Tunnel Capabilities: Strategy Application and 26 November — The e-Go
Verification for Future Requirements story. Adrian Hillcote, Chief
Aerodynamics Group Conference Executive, and David Boughey,
Sales and Marketing Manager,
20 October e-Go Aeroplanes. Venue TBC.
Cierva Lecture
Andrea D’Andrea, an IPT Leader at AgustaWestland BOSCOMBE DOWN
Rotorcraft Group Named Lecture Lecture Theatre, Boscombe
Down. Refreshments from
22 October 5 pm. Lecture 5.15 pm.
Contrail-Cirrus, Other Non-CO2 Effects and Smart Flying Visitors please register at
Greener by Design Workshop least four days in advance
(name and car registration
22 October
required) E secretary@
Trenchard Lecture
BoscombeDownRAeS.org
Lynsey Shaw, University of Oxford
15 September —
Air Power Group Lecture
Thunderbolts and lightning
26 October — are they really frightening?
The 1955 Supply of Military Aircraft White Paper: The First Rhys Phillips, Airbus Group
Post 1945 Procurement Crisis Innovations. Joint lecture with
Prof Keith Hayward IMechE and IET.
Historical Group Lecture 13 October — 29th Sir
Henry Tizard Lecture. Spitfire
restoration. John Romain, ARC
All lectures start at 18.00hrs unless otherwise stated. Duxford. Ticket only.
Conference proceedings are available at 27 October — Catalina
www.aerosociety.com/news/proceedings operations over the Antarctic.
Tony Dyer, QinetiQ. 12.15 pm.
52 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
www.aerosociety/events
10 November — Flight
testing the e-Go. Keith
Dennison, e-Go Aeroplanes.
Joint lecture with the ETPSA.
24 November — The Human
element — a disturbing trend in
recent air accidents. Dr Garnet
Ridgway, QinetiQ. 12.15 pm.
BRISTOL
Concorde Room, BAWA,
Southmead Road. 6.30 pm. E
elizabeth.cole@airbus.com
17 September —
Development of high
performance CRES steels
for landing gear application.
Alan Shepherd, Team Leader
for Landing Gear Research
and Technology, Airbus.
Joint lecture with IOM3 and
WEMMA.
6 October — Transatlantic
adventure. Eddie McCallum,
Microlight Pilot. Joint lecture
with LAA Bristol Strut and
Bristol Aero Club. Room 1,
BAWA, Southmead Road.
7.30 pm.
12 November — First Collar
Lecture. Aeroelastics. Prof
Jonathan Cooper, University
of Bristol. Pugsley Lecture
Theatre, Queens Building,
University of Bristol, University
Walk, Bristol.
CAMBRIDGE
Lecture Theatre ‘O’ of
the Cambridge University
Engineering Department,
Trumpington Street,
Cambridge. 7.30 pm. Jin-Hyun
Yu, T +44 (0)1223 373129.
10 September — Forty years
of the Hawk. Steve Blee, Chief
Airworthiness Engineer Hawk,
BAE Systems Brough.
8 October — 100 years
of aircraft manufacture at
Yeovil. Dr Alisdair Wood,
AgustaWestland.
29 October — The winning
fuel in Formula 1 — passion,
education and dedication.
Ian Greig, Mercedes-Benz
Grand Prix Future Cars Group,
Brackley. Young Persons
Lecture, joint lecture with
IMechE and IET. Buffet (by
ticket) at 6 pm, lecture follows.
19 November — Aircrew
equipment — performance with
protection. Dr Michael Trudgill,
Head of Aircrew Equipment
& Integration, RAF Centre of
Aviation Medicine.
CANBERRA
ADFA Military Theatre. 6 pm.
Jon Pike,
E jonpike@grapevine.net.au
8 September — TBC.
CHESTER
The Airbus Conference Suite,
Airbus UK, Chester Road,
Broughton. 7.30 pm. Keith
Housely, T +44 (0)151 348
4480.
16 September — A400M
Atlas — the trials (and
tribulations). Sqn Ldr J J
Harrison, OC C Flt, XXIV Sqn,
RAF.
COVENTRY
Lecture Theatre ECG26,
Engineering and Computing
Building, Coventry University.
7.30 pm. Janet Owen, T +44
(0)2476 464079.
30 September — Role of
a Rolls-Royce test pilot. Phil
O’Dell, Chief Test Pilot, Rolls-
Royce.
21 October — John Boyd
Dunlop Lecture. From
animals to aircraft: biological
inspiration and bio-inspired air
vehicles. Prof Graham Taylor,
Department of Zoology, Oxford
University.
12 November — Annual
Dinner and Talk. Shipwrecked
in the Antarctic. Georgina Hale.
Holiday Inn, London Road,
Ryton on Dunsmore, Coventry.
CRANFIELD
Vincent Auditorium, Cranfield
University, Cranfield. 6.30 pm.
27 October — Lord Kings
Norton Lecture. The work of
the Aviation Safety Regulator.
Padhraic Kelleher, Head of
Intelligence, Strategy & Policy,
CAA.
CRANWELL
Room 64, Whittle Hall, RAF
Cranwell. 7.30 pm. Prof Trevor
Kerry,
E tk.consultancy@ntlworld.com
7 September — RAF air-
to-air missiles — the first 30
years. Andy Lister-Tomlinson.
5 October — Do17Z —
recovering and preservation.
Darren Pridday, Manager,
Conservation Centre, Royal Air
Force Museum Cosford.
2 November — WW2 fighter
combat — compare and
contrast the main fighters. Paul
Stoddart.
FARNBOROUGH
BAE Systems Park Centre,
Farnborough Aerospace Centre.
7.30 pm. Dr Mike Philpot,
T +44 (0)1252 614618.
22 September — Reaper
UAV operations. Paul Clark,
UAS Flight Operations
Manager, QinetiQ.
13 October — The future of
the Hawk. Graeme Codner,
Chief Engineer Hawk, BAE
Systems.
17 November — Cody
Lecture. Aerodynamics as
the basis of aviation. Dr John
Ackroyd.
GATWICK
CAA, Aviation House, Gatwick
Airport South. 6.30 pm. Don
Bates, T +44 (0)20 8654
1150.
2 September — Remotely
piloted aircraft. Dr Joseph
Barnard, Director, Barnard
Microsystems.
7 October — 3D printing and
digital technology. Kevin Smith,
Global Applications Director,
Voxeljet and Steve Ashworth,
Technical Director, Aeromet
International PLC.
11 November — The A400M
in RAF service. Sqn Ldr J J
Harrison, OC C Flt, XXIV Sqn.
HAMBURG
Hochschule für Angewandte
Wissenschaften Hamburg,
Berliner Tor 5 (Neubau),
Hörsaal 01.12, Hamburg.
6 pm. Richard Sanderson,
T +49 (0)4167 92012.
19 November — Aircraft
conservation — the Dornier
Do17. Darren Pridday,
Manager, Conservation Centre,
Royal Air Force Museum
Cosford. Joint lecture with
DGLR, HAW and VDI.
24 November — Annual
Christmas Dinner and Lecture.
David Owens, Airbus Senior
Director, Flight Crew Training
Policy. Anglo-German Club,
Harvestehuder Weg 44,
20149 Hamburg. 7 pm.
Registration required.
HATFIELD
University of Hertfordshire,
Hatfield. 7 pm. Maurice James,
Find us on Twitter i Find us on LinkedIn
T +44 (0)7958 775441.
23 September — Flying
microlights. Eur Eng Ray
Wilkinson.
HEATHROW
Theatre, British Airways
Waterside, Harmondsworth.
6.15 pm. For security
passes please contact David
Beaumont, E secretary.
raeslhr@gmail.com or T +44
(0)7936 392799.
September — No lecture.
8 October — Aircraft fatigue
from Comet to Boeing 787.
Dr Andrew Halfpenny, Chief
Technologist HBM-nCode.
12 November — RPAS
operations and integration
in civil and military airspace.
Dr Stuart Gilmartin, Director,
Gilmartin Global Consultancy.
LOUGHBOROUGH
Room U020, Brockington
Building, Loughborough
University. 7.30 pm. Colin
Moss, T +44 (0)1509
239962.
13 October — The CV-22
Osprey — a truly versatile
workhorse. Lt Col James S
Peterson, 7 SOS Operations
Manager, RAF Mildenhall.
3 November — Human-
powered flight. Dr Bill Brooks,
P & M Aviation.
17 November — Typhoon:
current and future capability.
Mark Bowman, Chief Test
Pilot BAE Systems. Joint
lecture with the Loughborough
(University) Alumni.
MEDWAY
Staff Restaurant, BAE
Systems, Marconi Way,
Rochester. 7 pm. Robin Heaps,
T +44 (0)1634 377973.
21 October — The life and
times of the Harrier. Sir Donald
Spiers.
MUNICH
Deutsches Museum München
(Ehrensaal). 7 pm.
28 October — Willy
Messerschmitt Lecture.
Fliegende Simulatoren und
Technologieträger. Prof
Hameln.
OXFORD
Magdalen Centre, Oxford
Science Park, Oxford. 7 pm.
Nigel Randall, E oaktree.
cottage@btinternet.com
15 September — Military
parachuting. Flt Lt Ollie Smith.
17 November — A new
light aircraft design and
development project. Andrew
Barber.
PRESTON
Personnel and Conference
Centre, BAE Systems, Warton.
7.30 pm. Alan Matthews,
T +44 (0)1995 61470.
16 September — Type 45
f Find us on Facebook
A de Havilland Firestreak air-to-air missile being
loaded on to the starboard outer pylon of a Gloster
Javelin at West Raynam. The first 30 years of RAF
air-to-air missiles will be described by Andy Lister-
Tomlinson at Cranwell on 7 September.
RAeS (NAL).
Destroyer. Richard Dingley,
BAE Systems Naval Ships.
14 October — V-22 Osprey.
Rick Lamaster, Boeing.
11 November — Westland
100th anniversary. Jeremy
Graham, AgustaWestland.
PRESTWICK
The Aviator Suite, 1st Floor,
Terminal Building, Prestwick
Airport. 7.30 pm. John Wragg,
T +44 (0)1655 750270.
14 September — Schoolboy
to Station Commander. Grp
Capt Jock Heron.
12 October — How tiny
spacecraft are revolutionising
the space industry — the story
of Clydespace. Craig Clark.
9 November — Cody to
Concorde. Richard Gardner.
Joint lecture with IMechE.
QUEENSLAND
Hilton Cairns Hotel,
Queensland.
25-27 November — Seventh
Asia-Pacific International
Symposium on Aerospace
Technology (APISAT).
SEATTLE
Museum of Flight, 9404 East
Marginal Way South, Seattle,
Washington. 6.30 pm.
15 September — William
Boeing and the creation
of America’s airways. Mike
Lombardi, Director of Archives,
The Boeing Company.
14 November — Joe Sutter
Dinner Lecture. The strange
career of the American
Spaceplane: NASA and the
quest for routine human
space operations. Dr Roger D
Launius, Associate Director
of Collections and Curatorial
Affairs at the Smithsonian
www.aerosociety.com
Institution’s National Air and
Space Museum.
SHEFFIELD
St Georges Lecture Theatre,
University of Sheffield, 17
Mappin Street, Sheffield.
6.30 pm.
22 September — Hang
gliding. Gordon Rigg.
SOUTHEND
The Royal Naval Association,
79 East Street, Southend-on-
Sea. 8 pm. Sean Corr, T +44
(0)20 7788 0566.
8 September — Sir Freddie
Laker Lecture. Stobart Air.
Peter O’Mara, Business
Development Director, Stobart
Air, Dublin.
13 October — BAC One-
Eleven. Stephen Skinner.
10 November — Cosford
Lecture.
STEVENAGE
The Lunch Pad Restaurant,
Airbus Defence and Space,
Gunnels Wood Road,
Stevenage. 6 pm. Matt Cappell,
E raesstevenage@gmail.com
13 October — SSTL —
changing the economics of
space composites — the
engineering challenges. Chris
Hamar. Joint lecture with
IMechE. 6.30 pm.
12 November — Engineering
for the Red Planet: the
ExoMars Rover. Abbie Hutty.
18 November — RAF Halton
Trenchard Museum and Tring
Brewery Trip.
SWINDON
The Montgomery Theatre,
The Defence Academy of
the United Kingdom, Joint
Services Command Staff
College, Shrivenham. 7 pm.
New attendees must provide
details of the vehicle they will
be using not later than five
days before the event. Photo
ID will be required at the gate
(Driving Licence/Passport).
Advise attendance preferably
via email to raeswindon@
gmail.com or Branch Secretary
Colin Irvin,
T +44 (0)7740 136609.
7 October — The Berlin
Airlift. Alec Chambers.
4 November — In flight
refuelling, past, present and
future. James Kemmett.
SYDNEY
16 September — 57th Sir
Charles Kingsford Smith
Lecture and Annual Branch
Dinner. Kingsford Smith:
technology ... the sky is the
limit! Chris Jenkins, Chief
Executive, Thales Australia
and NZ.
TOULOUSE
Symposium Room, Airbus
SAS/HQ, B01, Campus
1, Blagnac. 6 pm. Contact:
Pass@RAeS-Toulouse.org for
a security pass.
20 October — Space tourism
— rocketing to new heights.
Joint lecture with 3AF.
YEOVIL
Dallas Conference Room 1A,
AgustaWestland, Yeovil. 6
pm. David Mccallum, E david.
mccallum@agustawestland.com
17 September — Best of
British — three years with the
Red Arrows. Wg Cdr Ross
Priday RAF.
15 October — 20th Penrose
Lecture. Wildcat operations.
Cdr Louis Wilson-Chalon RN.
SEPTEMBER 2015 53
 Obituaries
PROFESSOR SIR JOHN HAROLD HORLOCK
A fuller obituary for Sir
John may be found on
the Society’s website at:
aerosociety.com/News/
Society-News/
JOHN CECIL WIMPENNY
A full obituary for John
may be found on the
Society’s website at:
www.aerosociety.com/
News/Society-News/
GUILD OF AVIATION ARTISTS’ ANNUAL SUMMER EXHIBITION
The Guild of Aviation Artists’
45th Annual Summer
Exhibition held at the Mall
Galleries, near Admiralty
Arch, London, on 20-26 July,
attracted over 400 works and
included a special exhibition
to celebrate the centenary of
Westland.
Far right: Golden Era by John
Peter Cutts AGAvA.
Bill Read.
54 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015
FRS FREng HonFRAeS
1922-2015
On graduating from St John’s College Cambridge in
1949, John went to work for Rolls-Royce, first as a
graduate apprentice, and then in the group under Geoff
Wilde which was struggling with the axial compressor
for the Avon turbojet. A part of John’s contribution was
adapting the successful Armstrong Siddeley compres-
sor into the Rolls-Royce engine. In 1952 he returned to
Cambridge to work for a PhD with Will (later Sir
William) Hawthorne. The experience in Rolls-Royce had
been a formative one and issues of three-dimensional
compressor design were the basis for his research.
During a year in MIT John wrote his first book,
Axial Compressors. On returning to Cambridge he was
soon approached by Liverpool University, and he went
there in 1958 as Harrison Professor of Mechanical
CEng FRAeS
1922-2015
John Wimpenny’s first task on joining the de
Havilland Aircraft Company straight from school at
the age of 17 on 4 October 1940 — the day after
the factory was bombed — was to weigh every part
of a DH98 Mosquito. His only tools were a pair of
kitchen scales and his own resourcefulness.
From this humble beginning, John, who has died
aged 92, went on to forge an illustrious career in the
aviation industry, being at the forefront of early tran-
sonic aerodynamics and stability in the mid-1940s,
including work on the wings of the Comet jet airliner,
Dove, Venom and Sea Vixen. He was also a flight
test observer on Mosquitos and Hornets. In 1957 he
was appointed Deputy Chief Aerodynamicist for de
Engineering. He also published his second book,
Axial Turbines. Returning to Cambridge in 1967 as a
professor, it was not long before he was appointed
Deputy Head of the Department of Engineering. He
reformed the undergraduate teaching of engineering
in Cambridge and founded the SRC Turbomachinery
Laboratory — raising the money and then getting it
built. The laboratory, which later became the Whittle
Laboratory, is one of John’s great legacies.
After periods as Vice Chancellor of Salford
University and the Open University John retired in
1990. Further books followed. He was the first chair
(1990) of the Rolls-Royce advisory body known as
the Aerothermal Panel, later recast as the Power and
Propulsion System Advisory Board. After retiring
from the Open University he re-joined the
Whittle Laboratory, where he took a regular part in the
research of his successful legacy.
Havilland and Chief Research Engineer in 1965.
He was a founder of the Hatfield Man Powered
Aircraft Club and in 1962 made a flight of 993
yards in Puffin 1, built by de Havilland employees.
This record stood for ten years.
In 1972 he was appointed Chief Research
Engineer for Hawker Siddeley Aviation and when
he retired in 1984 he was Executive Director of
Research for British Aerospace.
Awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Silver
Medal in 1978, John Wimpenny enjoyed adventure,
travel and music, as well as sailing and home
engineering projects.
He is survived by his widow, Angela, and three
sons, Francis, Gerard and Benedict.
Brian Rivas
Corporate Partners
NEW PARTNERS EVENTS
Please note: attendance at Corporate Partner Briefings is strictly
The Royal Aeronautical Society would like to
exclusive to staff of RAeS Corporate Partners. Unless otherwise
welcome the following as Corporate Partners.
advised, registration for Corporate Partner Briefings is at 16.30 hrs.

Tuesday 15 September 2015 / London

An Update on US Aviation Strategic Goals and Transatlantic Partnerships
Corporate Partner Briefing by Michael P Huerta, Administrator, FAA
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
Muirhead Tower, Edgbaston, Birmingham, West
Monday 12 October 2015 / London
Midlands B15 2TT, UK
Being an intelligent MoD customer
T +44 (0)121 414 3344
Corporate Partner Briefing by AM Sir Stephen Hillier, Deputy Chief of
W www.birmingham.ac.uk
Defence Staff (Military Capability), Ministry of Defence
Contact
Sponsored by:
Andy Newnham, Business Engagement Partner

The University of Birmingham has significant

expertise in the advancement and uses of
Thursday 22 October 2015 / London
aerospace and defence technologies. Our cross-
SDSR Update (title TBC)
disciplinary approach to research brings together
Corporate Partner Briefing by Philip Dunne MP, Minister for Defence
experts in engineering and technology, business
Procurement, Ministry of Defence
and management, policy and social science,
NB: Registration for this Briefing is at 17.30 hrs
psychology and life sciences, legal and medical
science. Whether you are a large corporate
www.aerosociety.com/events
organisation or a small business, and whether you
For further information, please contact Gail Ward
require a short-term solution or have a long-term
E gail.ward@aerosociety.com or T +44 (0)1491 629912
project in mind, you can tap into the world-class
expertise at the University of Birmingham. We
have an excellent team of enthusiastic Business
Engagement Partners waiting to learn more about
the challenges you are facing.
THE AIM OF THE
CORPORATE
PARTNER
SCHEME IS TO STONEHOUSE SEARCH AND SELECTION
AIRLINER1 EUROPE LTD BRING TOGETHER 26 The Slipway, Marina Keep, Port Solent, Hants
19 Colquhoun Avenue, Hillington Park, Glasgow PO6 4TR, UK
G52 4BN, UK
ORGANISATIONS T +44 (0)2392 469161
T +44 (0)141 373 7378 TO PROMOTE E info@stonehousesas.com
E admineu@airliner1.com BEST PRACTICE W www.stonehousesas.com
W www.airliner1.com Contact
Contact WITHIN THE Mark Rowley, Director
Steven Masson, Managing Director INTERNATIONAL
AEROSPACE Stonehouse Search and Selection is an
Airliner1 is a company dedicated to delivering independent, boutique practice, focused on
new innovating training solutions. Providing our SECTOR senior and board level, technical and specialist
customers with next generation training devices appointments across the Nuclear, Marine,
that reduce costs while enhancing the training Automotive and Defence sectors. We specialise
they provide. Our products are built by aircraft in design, build, test, electronics control &
engineers to meet the standards your simulator instrumentation, programme management, safety
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From classroom FMC/MCDU desktop The Stonehouse Search and Selection
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Procedural trainers and our fixed-base training stood the test of time. Coupled with hard work,
devices. All of which have been designed to take Contact: leading-edge technology and sound advice, we
advantage of the latest technological innovations. Simon Levy deliver a unique technical and executive research
Corporate Partner Manager process to find and attract genuine talent that will
E simon.levy@aerosociety.com help give you the competitive edge that you seek.
T +44 (0)20 7670 4346

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 Afterburner
Elections
FELLOWS Alan Gear
James Gelnar
Ian Wagstaff
Peng Cheng Wang
SOCIETY OFFICERS
Kamran Ahmad David Gill Benjamin Zachariah
President: Martin Broadhurst
David Armstrong Alexander Goman
President-Elect: Prof Chris Atkin
Mohammed Aziz John Goodliffe
ASSOCIATE
Kogila Balakrishnan Katy Greatbatch MEMBERS
BOARD CHAIRMEN
Colin Barlow Jason Greenslade
Richard Barrow Neil Harness Piera Carugno
Learned Society Chairman: Ian Middleton
James Beldon Colin Henderson Jonathan Channing
Membership Services Chairman:
Charles Bolden Jr Rein Hoff Tahlia Fisher
Dr Alisdair Wood
Clive Condie Barrie Phelps Hopkins Christopher Charles
Professional Standards Chairman:
Ian Cooper Dennis Hoskin Hawes
Prof Jonathan Cooper
Kevin Craven Clement Howard Daniel Hendon
Peter Davies Usman Hussain Abhishek Kaushal
DIVISION PRESIDENTS
Peter English Robert Hylands Wen Yao Lee
James Evans Nadine Itani Machira Mavalla
Australia: John Vincent
Barry Allan Geddes Jonathan Jarvis Thomas Offord
New Zealand: Gp Capt Frank Sharp
Stephen Gill Gavin Jones Siddharth Ravichandran
Pakistan: AM Salim Arshad
Steven Grieve Nigel Jones Christopher Read
South African: Dr Glen Snedden
Fadi Khalil Timothy Kairis Graham Robertson
Luke Logan Jameel Khan Brian Shaw
Simon Lovell Iain King Kevin Simoes Spencer
Chris Luck Alex Kinnaird Shaughn Winter
AFFILIATES STUDENT AFFILIATES
Stephane Mondoloni Alexander Le Page
Edward Ransom Julian Lee E-ASSOCIATES David Brady Student Affiliate
Martin Rolfe Yujing Lin Jason Da Costa Gareth McCann
Ronald Rosalky Simon Lindsay Edmund Acheson Grant Davies Jadine Meyer
Christopher Savage Steven MacMillan Thomas Banks Simon Eddings Gavin Pollock
Martin Schofield Laura Mainini Denise Corsel David Fuller Jack Richardson
Alistair Scott Thomas Maisey Davide Di Pasquale Daniel King Sjouke Shekman
Dennis Scott Georgina Mann Daniel Holland Christopher Pigott Suria Subiah
Andrew Stroomer Purandara Mawitagama Matthew Humphrey Shelley Ross Candice Topper
Andrew Swaffield John McClean Kim Kohn Philip Sproul
Clive Vacher Grant McLelland Kin Lok Lee Jussi Tuovinen
Derrick McNeill Thomas McQueen
MEMBERS Robert Milligan Kyle Morel
Andrew Mills Jordan Morris
Desmond Adair Arun Mistry Tessa Naran
Keith Appleby Christian Mueller Nikhil Patel
Christopher Armit Aditya Sanjay Mulmule Paresh Porobo
Joseph Arokiasamy Berta Navarro Gervasio Salerno
Damon Ballinger Rodriguez
Darren Barlow Andrew Neil
Paula Barratt Florian Obermeier
ASSOCIATES
WITH REGRET
Hugh Blakemore Michael Pervan Christopher Davey
David Bolton Shawn Pruchnicki James Dean The RAeS announces with regret the deaths of the
Martin Bottomley Hannah Reeves Jamie Downing following members:
Thomas Bowie Selvaraj Reghuvaran Crystal Forrester Prof Michael Geoffrey Bader CEng MRAeS 84
Luke Brambleby Ian Reynolds Adam Karakurt
Kevin Brigden Vijay Shah Owain Little Stanley Walter Bainbridge OBE FRAeS 88
Niall Brolly Christopher Shone Marthinus Meintjes Richard Henry Calder CEng MRAeS 78
Stephen Chan-A-Sue Arash Soleiman Fallah Victor Melbourne
David Clements Mark Staveley Chaves Alexander William Culmer CEng FRAeS 91
Michael Close Jonathan Taylor Marcello Muceli Grahame Jones CBE CEng FRAeS 65
Andrew Davy Alexander Taylor Sam Parker
Mark Fellows James Tomlinson Daniel Scadding John Mansell Lewendon CEng FRAeS 89
Thi Thu Trang Maria Tong Chinthaka Silva Frank Price CEng FRAeS 89
Fouinneteau Mike Topping Prubhjyot Singh
Craig Gamble Reginald Keith Warren IEng AMRAeS 87
Natalia Ustynowicz
Anthony Garforth Tristan Vincent-Philpot Frank Sutcliffe Wood CEng MRAeS 92

56 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015

 E U R O P E A N A I R L I N E T R A I N I N G S Y M P O S I U M

eats2015
Conference by:

ROYAL AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY

No.4 Hamilton Place
W A R S A W

LONDON W1 The leading aviation

The Proprietors again beg to inform the Nobility, Gentry and Public of the training event for Europe,
Aerospace & the Middle East and Africa
3-4 November 2015
Aviation Book Fair DoubleTree by Hilton, Warsaw, Poland

Monday, 16 November 2015 11.00-18.00

A great opportunity to browse and buy from a range of
aviation booksellers and publishers.

Visit the National Aerospace Library stand selling a Featuring two conference streams
t
Pilot Training
large range of new/secondhand books and journals.
t
Cabin Crew Training
Plus a ‘Heads of Training Meeting’
Partake from the RAeS merchandise range.
with representatives from EASA.

FREE ADMISSION
Register today for best prices Supported By:

Please contact the Conference and Events Department to RSVP:

www.halldale.com/eats
T +44 (0)20 7670 4345 E conference@aerosociety.com

2014 RAeS WRITTEN PAPER PRIZES

The Royal Aeronautical Society Written Paper take-off’, The Aeronautical Journal, October 2014,
Prizes are awarded annually for the best papers Vol 118, No 1208, pp 1103-1123
published in The Aeronautical Journal by the Society
during the previous calendar year. Awards can be Bronze Awards
conferred at Gold, Silver or Bronze level, although
no Gold awards are being conferred this year. The F Gandhi, C Duling and F Straub
Written Paper Prizes are presented at the Sopwith The Bronze award was given for their paper ‘On 2014 Written Paper Prize
Lecture held at the Royal Aeronautical Society power and actuation requirement in swashplateless winners with the RAeS
President and some of
HQ at No.4 Hamilton Place, London W1. They are primary control of helicopters using trailing-edge the Medals and Awards
conferred following the approval of the Council flaps’, The Aeronautical Journal, May 2014, Vol 118, Committee. Tim Caines.
of the Royal Aeronautical Society on the basis of No 1203, pp 503-521
recommendations from the RAeS Medals & Awards
Committee, supported by the Editor-in-Chief of The G Gratton, R Hoff, A Rahman, C Harbour,
Aeronautical Journal. The Society recognises the S Williams and M Bromfield THE MOST
achievements, innovation and excellence of both The Bronze award was given for their paper PRESTIGIOUS
individual and multiple authors. ‘Evaluating a set of stall recovery actions for single
engine light aeroplanes’ The Aeronautical Journal, AND LONG-
Silver Awards May 2014, Vol 118, No 1203, pp 461-484 STANDING
J McGuirk A Stuermer, J Yin and R Akkermans
AWARDS
The Silver award was given for his paper on ‘The The Bronze award was given for their paper IN GLOBAL
aerodynamic challenges of aeroengine gas-turbine ‘Progress in aerodynamic and aeroacoustic AEROSPACE
combustion systems’, The Aeronautical Journal, June integration of CROR propulsion systems’ The
2014, Vol 118, No 1204, pp 557-599 Aeronautical Journal, October 2014, Vol 118, No
HONOURING
1208, pp 1137-1158 ACHIEVEMENT,
C Hall, A Zachariadis, T Brandvik and INNOVATION
N Sohoni The Aeronautical Journal congratulates all winners.
The Silver award was given for their paper ‘How www.aerosociety.com/About-Us/ AND
to improve open rotor aerodynamics at cruise and medalsawards/paperprizes EXCELLENCE
Find us on Twitter i Find us on LinkedIn f Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com SEPTEMBER 2015 57
 The Last Word
COMMENTARY FROM
Professor Keith Hayward
FRAeS

Air-to-air combat — civilian style

There’s rarely a dull moment for observers

Heathrow Airport
of aviation and aerospace. Ryanair’s Michael
O’Leary might have mellowed — somewhat — but
cognoscenti of a good row have plenty of options.

A threat to airline liberalisation

Item one: Airline chiefs on both sides of the
Atlantic sounding off against Gulf airlines that have
the temerity to accept government investment and
deliver a world-beating service to passengers?
Some cheek, especially in Europe where the said
Gulf carriers are helping to keep a number of
local airlines in business and where, in the past,
several major airlines would never have survived
without a trough-load of subsidy. US airlines are
making the most noise, alleging a $40bn subsidy
across the three main Gulf carriers. In Europe, the
issue has led to a schism in the European Airline
Association, with IAG, Air Berlin and Alitalia leaving
the trade association. Given that all three have
Gulf shareholders or partners, this was perhaps
inevitable.
However, demands from other European
and American airlines to halt or even row-back
on ‘Open Skies’ agreements bodes ill for future
developments. As the International Airline Group
(IAG) has shown, it is possible to keep in touch
with low-cost carrier economics and to compete
with the Gulf through hard-nosed economics. The
ANY RETREAT Gulf will have to accept greater transparency as
FROM a condition for further liberalisation but to put the
LIBERALISATION clock back on this issue is no answer.
WILL NOT HELP
Oligopoly is unhealthy?
FARE PAYERS Item two: a veiled threat by Willie Walsh, IAG’s
AND HOPES Chief Executive, to launch legal action against
OF EVEN manufacturers, implying that limited competition
BETTER DEALS has led to higher maintenance costs. Now, if this
EMBRACING implies cartelisation and collusive behaviour in
setting prices, some heavyweight competition
LONG-HAUL
authorities on both sides of the Atlantic might take
ROUTES WOULD an interest which would reverberate throughout
GO INTO A DEEP the entire aerospace/aviation world. Oddly enough,
FREEZE British Airways itself has some history here, as
the late Freddie Laker would attest. Nevertheless,
this is the first time a major airliner customer (Air
France-KLM has expressed similar concerns) has
questioned the effects of a supply-side oligopoly.
There are deep waters here: list prices of
equipment obscure all manner of deals which
may be profitable given quantity and life-cycle
benefits from selling spares — especially important
to engine manufacturers. Transparency is not a
virtue in this business. In the longer term, as Walsh
suggests, new entrants, including Bombardier,
might increase competition, as well as boost
Chinese and Russian hopes of developing an
effective commercial aircraft industry. All three of
the engine companies offering alternatives in each
major engine power category might also help.
Bluster, not an expensive day in
court
Item two will probably fade away; there’s too much
at stake to trigger legal action that could have
some nasty unanticipated consequences for all
involved in the action. Item one is more worrying;
any retreat from liberalisation will not help fare
payers and hopes of even better deals embracing
long-haul routes would go into a deep freeze. But it
all makes for an interesting post-Paris year.

58 AEROSPACE / SEPTEMBER 2015

International Flight Crew President’s Conference
Training Conference

RPAS: ACHIEVEMENTS
FLIGHT CREW INSTRUCTION
AND CHALLENGES

SELECTION, SKILLS AND SUPPLY

LONDON / 23 - 24 SEPTEMBER 2015 LONDON / 7 - 8 OCTOBER 2015

Over the next 15 years, The 2015 President’s
our industry faces an Conference will provide:
uprecedented demand for
at least another 500,000 - Details on the latest
new airline pilots globally applications (civil,
due to absolute fleet growth military, large and small
and a significant number of applications)
inevitable retirements from - Updates on the regulatory
the age of the ‘baby-boom’. challenges
- An overview of the
The 2015 International Flight technical challenges and
Crew Training Conference opportunities
will consider the potential - A review of the issues of
instructor shortage. liability, insurance, privacy
and public perceptions
www.aerosociety.com/events www.aerosociety.com/events
Sponsors Sponsors

Aerodynamics Group AAIB Conference

UPCOMING 100 YEARS OF ACCIDENT

AERODYNAMICS GROUP INVESTIGATION -
EVENTS WHAT’S NEXT?
AAIB CENTENARY CONFERENCE

LONDON / 14 OCTOBER 2015

Wind Tunnel Capabilities: This conference, organised
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Verification for Future the centenary of the
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Applied Aerodynamics The programme will be

Conference: Evolution supported by speakers
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- The Next 150 Years of organisations, including
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Sponsors
Sponsorship and exhibition opportunities are available for both events.
To find out more please contact the Conference and Event Department on
conference@aerosociety.com or +44 (0)20 7670 4345
 L O N D O N

2 0 - 2 3 O C TO B E R 2 0 1 5

OVER 200 KEY SPEAKERS • UNIQUE 3 DAY EVENT

OVER 1000 INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS
(...and only once every 4 years)

Aerodays2015 is a European flagship event bringing together over 1000 attendees from the world of Aeronautics and Air
Transport research. This prestigious event will provide a unique opportunity to share the results of collaborative research,
showcase innovations, discuss policy and developments for work funded through the European Framework for Research and
Innovation, and takes us forward to Horizon 2020 and beyond. This three day conference is a critical pathway to ensure that
Europe remains competitive in these sectors.

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

go to www.aerodays2015.com to ensure your place
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS
Warren East – Chief Executive Officer Rolls-Royce plc
Tom Enders – Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Group (at the Networking Dinner)
Violeta Bulc – EU Commissioner, Transport
Peter Hartman – Vice Chairman of Air France-KLM and Chairman of ACARE
Patrick Ky – Executive Director of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)
Tony Tyler – Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the International Air Transport Association (IATA)
Stephen Henwood – Chairman of the UK Aerospace Technology Institute
Johan-Dietrich Wörner – Chairman of DLR and DG elect for the European Space Agency
Robert Goodwill MP - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport and Parliamentary Under
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