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| AVflash! Engine Failure at Manchester | back to top |  |
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A330 Engine Failure Caught On VideoThe pilots of a Thomas Cook A330 had their hands full when the right engine of the big airliner failed on the takeoff roll at Manchester Airport in the U.K. Planespotter video by Eddie Leathwood shows a jet of flame exiting the rear of the engine followed by smoke and the delayed sound of the explosion. There were no reported injuries and the explosion appears to have been contained.
The engine comes apart about 10 seconds into the takeoff roll and that left plenty of runway for an emergency stop. The video shows smoke pouring from the tires and one of the spectators says he sees a tire blow. There were 325 passengers and crew on the aircraft, which was headed to the Dominican Republic. Emergency crews responded but there was no fire and the aircraft was able to get back to the gate under its own power. A couple of flights were diverted while the runway was cleared of engine bits.
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| Faster, Faster! | back to top | |
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Company Says New Ailerons Boost Performance
A California company says it has increased the top speed of the fastest fixed-gear single by almost 10 percent, added up to 30 percent range and given it a 40- to 50-percent increase in climb rate without touching the engine. In fact, says Lam Aviation, the Columbia 300 (predecessor to the Cessna Corvalis) saw all those improvements and more with new ailerons. It's not quite as simple as that. The Lam aileron allowed the installation of a smaller, lighter wing while retaining or improving handling across the full flight envelope. "The Lam Aileron enables aircraft to use smaller wings that weigh less and produce less drag, yielding higher cruise speeds and rates of climb, lower fuel consumption and improved ride comfort through turbulence, while also improving roll control and slow-speed flight handling," the company said in a news release.
The aileron system was invented by aerospace engineer Lawrence Lam and gives the outboard trailing edge the capability to perform two functions at once. The lower piece of the aileron is deflected downward as an extra flap while an independently functioning upper layer can be simultaneously used as an aileron. This, says the company, eliminates the normal compromise between flap and aileron span. The Columbia has been put through its paces by former Navy test pilot Len Fox who says the aileron setup has applications from bush planes to airliners. "From the pilot's perspective, operation of the Lam Aileron is seamless," Fox said. "With the Lam Aileron, a slower stall speed was achieved with a smaller wing. The reduction in wing area contributed to a higher cruise speed." Lam will have the Columbia at AirVenture 2013. |
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| Bombardier's CSeries Aims to Crack Jet Market | back to top | |
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Bombardier First Flight Expected This Week
Bombardier is expected to fly its new CSeries commercial jet for the first time this week, following a disappointing response to the airplane at the Paris Air Show last week. "This is a white-hot market for selling aircraft and the only odd man out is Bombardier," Richard Aboulafia, of the Teal Group, told The Canadian Press. Boeing, Airbus and Embraer together secured more than 1,200 orders at the show, while Bombardier announced just a few commercial aircraft orders, valued at about $400 million, though the company's business jets drew $1.8 billion worth of interest, according to the CP. The CSeries jet, a clean-sheet design in the works since 2008, will offer comfort, fuel efficiency and "unsurpassed economics" for the 100-to-149 seat class, according to Bombardier.
The CSeries will be able to operate in high and hot conditions and also will get in and out of downtown airports with challenging runways, like those in London and Toronto, according to Bombardier. It's also designed to reduce emissions and noise. The company also recently announced it will offer a 160-seat version. Chet Fuller, senior vice president of Bombardier commercial aircraft, told The Wall Street Journal it's hard to convince airline executives that a brand-new jet will be trouble-free. "The cynicism and skepticism in the industry is just huge," Fuller said. First deliveries of the CSeries are expected next year. |
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| Ceci N'est Pas un Pilote | back to top | |
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Pilot Imposter Upsets Qantas Crews
Qantas flight crews are furious that an airline staffer was allowed to dress as a pilot and fly in the jump seat of an A380, according to a story in Tuesday's Sydney Morning Herald. The pilots' union has lodged a formal complaint with the airline, stating that a staff member from navigation services wore a second officer's uniform and showed up for a flight last week from Dubai to Sydney. "At the company's direction, they put a person on the flight deck dressed as a pilot who is not a pilot. It is not appropriate under any circumstances," Australian and International Pilots' Association Vice President Richard Woodward told the Herald. "The pilots are all up in arms." Qantas said in a statement it was unclear why the staff member was dressed as a pilot.
"We're examining precisely why this happened," the airline's statement said. "However, it's clear that the staff member was on the flight deck for operational reasons and was not in any way trying to deceive the flight crew, who knew the staff member wasn't a pilot. … The staff member had the proper security clearance and appropriate documentation to be on the flight deck and there is no suggestion of improper behaviour on the aircraft." Woodward said that although the staffer had a security ID card that would allow her to access the cockpit, with the captain's permission, that does not make it OK for her to "masquerade as a pilot." He said the staffer was "purporting to be somebody she is not," and in the event of an emergency, flight attendants would have looked to her for direction because of the uniform. |
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| Lockheed's Gentle Giant | back to top | |
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Lockheed To Certify Giant Airship Next Year
Lockheed Martin has been at work on a giant high-lift hybrid airship since at least 2005, and the company now is moving toward certification and first delivery as soon as next year. The FAA this week published a notice about the company's application to certify the LMZ1M airship, and noted that because it's a hybrid and incorporates a number of advanced features, traditional airship design criteria have proved inadequate. A new category for "hybrid transport category airships" will be created specifically for the airship. Advanced features of the vehicle include a tri-lobed envelope with displacement of 1.3 million cubic feet, four thrusters to allow thrust vectoring, and electronic fly-by-wire controls for both the aerodynamic control surfaces and the thrusters.
Other features include an air-cushion landing system that enables the aircraft to operate without a ground crew. The airship can land and take off using any flat surface, including water, with no advance preparations required. The gondola carries two crewmembers and up to eight passengers, plus a large cargo bay. The ship also can carry external loads. The LMZ1M will be deployed for tactical airlift, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, as well as "special missions not currently possible with conventional aircraft," according to Lockheed. The airship can carry up to 500 tons of payload and travel up to 6,000 nm nonstop. Lockheed says the ship can also be operated remotely and stay aloft as long as three weeks at altitudes up to 20,000 feet. |
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| Who's Where | back to top | |
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Bengston to EastWest
Longtime Cessna executive Scott Bengston has joined EastWest Aircraft Sales. He worked for Cessna for 30 years, mostly as the contract administrator for the Caravan, but he also worked on the Mustang, M2, and 300 and 400 series programs.
Who's Where? You Tell UsGet a promotion or a new job? Your colleagues want to know about it, and AVwebBiz can get the word out. Drop us a line about the staff appointment, with a nice recent photo, and we'll do our best to include it in our new section, "Who's Where." The items will be permanently archived on AVweb for future reference, too. |
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| Opinion & Commentary | back to top | |
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AVweb Insider Blog: Air Show Crashes (Again)
When crashes occur at air shows, AVweb has a dilemma. Do we cover them at all? Cover them without video? Or show the video prominently? On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli explains why we link to video, if it's available. We think it has news and educational value.
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| Inside NASA's Flying Observatory | back to top | |
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Video: NASA's Flying 747 ObservatoryOriginal, Exclusive Videos from AVweb | Reader-Submitted & Viral Videos How do you cut a hole the size of a two-car garage door into the side of a 747 and fly with it at 0.8 Mach without turning the thing into a 300-ton organ pipe? In this exclusive AVweb video, find out how NASA did exactly this for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (or SOFIA). AVweb recently visited the program at its Palmdale, California headquarters.
AVweb Insider Blog: Behind the Scenes -- NASA's 747 Airborne Telescope Program
On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli describes his recent visit to NASA's SOFIA project and provides some interesting detail on the kind of engineering it took to install a 17-ton infrared telescope in a modified 747 SP. The result: the world's most advanced and sophisticated airborne observatory.
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| The Top Reporter on Our Crack Staff ... Is You! | back to top | |
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AVweb's Newstips Address ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 255,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. You're a part of our team ... often, the best part. |
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| Names Behind the News | back to top | |
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Meet the AVwebBiz Team
AVwebBiz is a weekly summary of the latest business aviation news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the world's premier independent aviation news resource.
The AVwebBiz team is:
Have a product or service to advertise on AVweb? Your advertising can reach over 225,000 loyal AVwebFlash, AVwebBiz, and AVweb home page readers every week. Over 80% of our readers are active pilots and aircraft owners. That's why our advertisers grow with us, year after year. For ad rates and scheduling, click here or contact Tom Bliss, via e-mail or via telephone [(480) 525-7481].
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Aviate. Navigate. Communicate. |
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