A Virgin Atlantic flight taking off this week from London to New York City will last about eight hours, span around 3,500 miles — and emit only a fraction of the planet-warming gases associated with a typical transatlantic flight.
On Tuesday, the British airline is set to pluck a Boeing 787 Dreamliner from its fleet and run the two powerful engines on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, during the journey from Heathrow Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport. If all goes to plan, Virgin Atlantic will be the first commercial airline to fly a passenger plane across the Atlantic Ocean by burning only fossil-free jet fuel, marking an important milestone for the CO2-intensive industry.
The flight will demonstrate “the longer-term potential of SAF to decarbonize aviation,” said Joey Cathcart, a senior aviation associate in the Climate-Aligned Industries Program at RMI, a clean energy think tank. (Canary Media is an independent affiliate of RMI.)
“This is really critical because SAF is the most readily available decarbonization mechanism that aviation has today,” he added. Cathcart, who is based in Salt Lake City, is slated to board the ocean-crossing plane tomorrow in London with a select group of passengers. “Confidence is high,” he replied when asked if he had any preflight jitters.
Air Force grounds entire Osprey fleet after Japan crash
Source: The Hill
12/06/23 7:37 PM ET
The Air Force on Wednesday grounded the entire fleet of CV-22 Ospreys after a fatal crash in Japan on Nov. 29 killed eight U.S. servicemembers.
Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, command of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), directed an operational grounding of the CV-22 fleet to “mitigate risk” while the investigation into the crash continues, AFSOC said in a statement.
A preliminary review of the crash indicates a “potential materiel failure” caused the accident, according to AFSOC, but the cause is still unknown and the investigation is ongoing. “The standdown will provide time and space for a thorough investigation to determine causal factors and recommendations to ensure the Air Force CV-22 fleet returns to flight operations,” AFSOC said.
Japan had asked the U.S. to suspend its Osprey flights following the crash, but the Pentagon had said only the Air Force unit involved with the crash had suspended its flights. Japanese officials have repeatedly expressed alarm with the hybrid aircraft. In 2016, a U.S. Osprey crashed near Okinawa, prompting an initial round of safety concerns.
GE completes testing sustainable aviation fuel on 10th aircraft engine model
Source: ABC News
December 11, 2023, 3:41 PM
GE Aerospace is taking another step towards its commitment to sustainable flights, completing testing with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on its 10th aircraft engine model.
The company announced Monday its finished testing with 100% SAF on 10 aircraft engine models. Currently, GE Aerospace engines power three out of four commercial flights worldwide, the company said. Among the tests, which have been taking place since 2016, were test flights operated with SAF. Most recently, Emirates Airlines operated a flight on an Airbus A380 powered by four engines made by a GE subsidiary – one of them fueled by SAF.
Current regulations allow commercial flights to operate with a blend of SAF and jet fuel, however airlines, regulators and manufacturers are working towards operating flights with 100% recycled fuel. GE's tests were conducted with Hydrotreated Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) fuel thats made of vegetable oils, waste oils, or fats.
"Right now [SAF] is more expensive and it's hard to find, but that's something that's going to change over time," Chris Lorence, chief engineer and general manager at GE Aerospace, told ABC News. "As more capacity comes online, our hope is that it's going to be comparable or better than jet fuel today."
Airbus's EcoPulse aircraft makes maiden all-hybrid flight
By David Szondy
December 14, 2023
Airbus' EcoPulse hybrid-electric distributed propulsion demonstrator aircraft has completed its maiden flight using its complete powertrain of ePropellers, high-density batteries, and a turbogenerator in support of aviation's decarbonization.
The 100-minute flight took off from Tarbes Airport on November 29 at 10:32 am CET, though it was not the very first flight of the EcoPulse. Along with ground tests, the aircraft had already carried out 10 hours of flight tests using the aircraft's main propeller powered by an internal combustion engine.
With the main propeller shut down, propulsion was provided during the most recent test by the six electric-powered ePropellers. In flight, the crew worked on verifying the demonstrator aircraft's flight control computer, high-voltage battery pack, distributed electric propulsion, and hybrid-electric turbo generator.
DARPA has selected Aurora Flight Sciences to build a full-scale X-plane to demonstrate the viability of using active flow control (AFC) actuators for primary flight control. The award is Phase 3 of the Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) program.
The X-65 flight is controlled by using jets of air from a pressurized source to shape the flow of air over the aircraft surface, with AFC effectors on several surfaces to control the plane’s roll, pitch, and yaw. Eliminating external moving parts is expected to reduce weight and complexity and to improve performance.
The X-65 will be built with two sets of control actuators – traditional flaps and rudders as well as AFC effectors embedded across all the lifting surfaces. This will both minimize risk and maximize the program’s insight into control effectiveness. The plane’s performance with traditional control surfaces will serve as a baseline; successive tests will selectively lock down moving surfaces, using AFC effectors instead.
“The X-65 conventional surfaces are like training wheels to help us understand how AFC can be used in place of traditional flaps and rudders,” said Wlezien. “We’ll have sensors in place to monitor how the AFC effectors’ performance compares with traditional control mechanisms, and these data will help us better understand how AFC could revolutionize both military and commercial craft in the future.”
FAA recommends airlines inspect door plugs on another Boeing model
Source: ABC News
January 22, 2024, 12:08 AM
Weeks after a mid-cabin door plug fell off during the ascent of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, the FAA is recommending flight operators check another model of Boeing airplanes.
On Sunday night, the FAA issued a statement recommending operators of the Boeing 737-900ER "visually inspect mid-exit door plugs to ensure the door is properly secured." In a statement late Sunday night, Boeing said it fully supports "the FAA and our customers in this action."
The 737-900ER has the same door plug design as the 737 Max 9.
According to the FAA’s safety alert, some operators that were conducting additional inspections on their 737-900ER mid-exit door plugs "noted findings with bolts during the maintenance inspections." The FAA noted that the Boeing 737-900ER has over 11 million hours of operation and 3.9 million flight cycles, and the door plug has not been an issue. Major airlines that fly the Boeing 737-900ER include Alaska, Delta and United.
Hovering uncannily close to the waves, the Airfish-8 carves its way over water three times quicker than a boat, and 2.3 times more efficiently than an aircraft. Singapore's ST Engineering has announced its first orders, set to enter service in 2025.
It's arresting enough to look at even when it's just floating, with its enormous reverse-delta wing, large double T-tail, top-mounted pusher props and wickedly upswept wingtips. But to watch it in action, gliding perilously close to the ocean, leaving more of an indentation behind it than a wake? Absolutely spectacular.
The Airfish-8 will carry two crew, and either 8 passengers or up to a ton of cargo. It's a combustion-powered seaplane requiring no particular infrastructure, since it'll operate off regular jetty facilities, and its 500-horsepower V8 car engine fills up on regular unleaded.
