The small lithium-metal and lithium-ion batteries we use everyday can pose big safety problems on aircraft, especially when carried as bulk cargo. This video shows the intensity of those fires when just a few batteries enter a state known as thermal runaway. FAA engineers at the William J. Hughes Technical Center have quantified the risks and are now testing methods to potentially mitigate them.
Pratt & Whitney is poised to realize its decades-long goal of introducing the geared turbofan into commercial service, with certification of the PW1100G-powered Airbus A320neo achieved on November 24, and the PW1500G-powered Bombardier CSeries expected to follow within weeks.
The test aimed to deploy the six-seat crew capsule into suborbit for a planned 4-min. weightless period, but attention was focused on whether the rocket stage could be successfully recovered using the tricky vertical-powered-landing technique.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket will fly again after achieving an intact powered vertical landing of the launch vehicle and parachute recovery of the unpiloted crew capsule to conclude a test flight.
Blue Origin has successfully launched and landed a reusable rocket for the first time. The New Shepard space vehicle flew to just over 329,000 feet before landing safety at its launch site in Texas. Check out Blue Origin's video of the rocket's test flight.
Do we still have a need for speed? Join Aviation Week as we discuss the history and technology of speed and whether, moving into the future, supersonic aircraft are economically feasible.
Air Canada recently told investors that when it switched from the 767 to the 787-8 between Toronto and Tel Aviv, the airline was able to carry 31% more passengers while using 3% less fuel.
A formal protest of the Pentagon’s Long-Range Strike Bomber award to Northrop Grumman has to be based on failure to follow rules, but the challengers’ public case goes far beyond that.
Lightweight textile-based approach to blastproofing baggage containers could lead to wider market acceptance of device to protect airliners from terrorist bombs.
Flutter-suppression X-56 crashes; laser IDs target by vibrations; new venture to commercialize morphing structures; Airbus helo R&D in the U.K.; Iceye’s low-cost radar imaging from space.
Fleet plans have already been made for most carriers, both for short-haul and long-haul services, and Airbus and Boeing order books are full for the next eight years. Anything but some kind of pause would be both unusual and unhealthy.
Nov. 30-Dec. 2—Defense & Aerosupply India 2015. Novotel Hyderabad International Convention Center. Hyderabad, India. See aerosupplyindia.com Dec. 1-2—IndiaMRO Aerospace & Defense 2015. The Lalit Ashok. Bengaluru, India. See indiamro.in
Since launching the Leap program, GE-Snecma joint venture CFM has added more engines to support Airbus, Boeing and Comac, partly to reduce risk as production begins.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. (ret.) Kelly Latimer (see photo) has been chosen to pilot for Virgin Galactic, based in Mojave, California. Latimer was the first female research test pilot to be hired by NASA’s Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center. Global aerospace components manufacturer Norsk Titanium has appointed Steve Carrington vice president-sales, Tony Prezioso vice president-contracts and Nicholas Mayer vice president-product development.
General Electric is targeting the general aviation and business turboprop market with an engine using an integrated gas generator and propeller control.
French President Francois Hollande and the National Assembly had set very different defense ministry spending plans before the Nov. 13 Islamic State group attacks in Paris. A robust response is forcing a change in those priorities.
