While it used to be normal to see Dassault Falcons landing and taking off from Santa Monica Airport (SMO) in Southern California, the arrival and departure of a Falcon 8X on Wednesday was somewhat unique—and not just because SMO's runway was shortened last year in an effort to reduce business jet traffic at the field. The flight, which originated in Portland, Oregon, was part of a successful effort to break the record for the Santa Monica to Teterboro leg. With tailwinds averaging just five knots, the flight took 4 hours, 28 minutes, besting the previous record by 24 minutes.
The trijet landed on Santa Monica’s shortened 3,500-foot runway early Wednesday morning after flying from Portland, using less than 2,000 feet for the landing. After a rapid fueling and turnaround, the 8X needed a balanced field length of just 3,200 feet for the flight to Teterboro, carrying four passengers, 13,640 pounds of fuel, 200 pounds of payload, and two pilots. The 8X also didn’t exceed the limits of the airport’s sensitive noise monitors during takeoff and departure.
“[This] flight embodies everything that advanced design can accomplish: unparalleled airport performance, a quiet noise footprint, and extended capability, all in a large-cabin business jet,” said Eric Trappier, chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation.
Why do airplanes crash? There are some usual suspects such as “gravity beats lift” or “drag defeats thrust,” but to really determine cause, investigators subscribe to an accident-causation model. Personally, I like James Reason’s Swiss cheese model of accident causation because it is a useful tool to explain very complex events.
However, the first step is to view each event with a wide lens and understand, as aviation safety researcher Sydney Dekker suggests, that “accidents are not accidents at all, but a failure in risk management.”
Reason’s Swiss cheese model gained popularity because “it illustrates that although many layers of defense lie between hazards and accidents, there are flaws in each layer that, if aligned, can allow the accident to occur.” By taking this approach, Reason’s model explores both active and latent failures. Latent failures are those that lie dormant for weeks, months, or even years, waiting for an opportunity. Active failures involve unsafe acts that can be directly linked to an accident.
The recent Boeing 737-8 Max accidents are wrought with latent failures, including organizational influences and financial incentives for a common type-rating and dumbed-down training.
Cardiff City Joins BACA Call for Action on Gray Charter
Cardiff City Football Club, whose new signing Emiliano Sala was killed in a crash into the English Channel north of Guernsey on January 21, has joined with BACA The Air Charter Association in calling for “urgent action on illegal flights.” This follows media attention surrounding the accident and recent publication of the preliminary accident report by the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch.
According to the report, David Ibbotson, who was flying the Piper Malibu from Nantes, France, to Cardiff, Wales, was not licensed to fly fee-paying passengers and the airplane itself was not registered to undertake commercial flights. The flight was paid for by former football agent Willie McKay. “This has prompted widespread calls for action by the air charter and football industries, with the backing of senior Ministers of Parliament,” said BACA.
Cardiff City Football Club stated, “We wholeheartedly back BACA…in its efforts to secure a review of illegal flights…the club has a robust flight policy, but we are putting in place additional processes to protect players and staff. We will be insisting that intermediaries book only commercial licensed air carriers when handling player transfers.”
BACA is also “calling on the [UK] government to review the level of criminal liability and enforcement options available to authorities, including larger fines and prison time for pilots and individuals who arrange and undertake illegal flights.”
Intelligent Energy To Reveal New UAV Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Intelligent Energy will reveal a new 2.4-kW UAV fuel cell next week at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) conference in Chicago. The company’s 800W fuel cell powered by liquid hydrogen was recently used in achieving a new world’s record by South Korea’s MetaVista, which flew a multi-rotor UAV continuously for 12 hours, 7 minutes, and 5 seconds. The previous record was 2 hours, 6 minutes, and 7 seconds.
Intelligent Energy’s chief sales officer Lee Juby said, “The use of liquid hydrogen in this flight showcases the significant flight times that can be achieved.” The company has launched four fuel cell power module products in the last 18 months designed to power commercial UAVs. Juby said the company plans to offer the new 2.4-kW fuel cell to select customers beginning in October and to make it widely available beginning in 2020.
He said its ability to extend UAV endurance is dramatic. By way of example, Juby said the company’s new 2.4-kW fuel cell could allow a DJI M600 UAV to fly uninterrupted for more than two hours compared to its current limit of 25 minutes under its standard battery pack. Intelligent Energy also added that two 2.4-kW modules can be linked in parallel to provide up to 4.8 kW of power without the need for additional hardware.
Dassault Aviation has delivered the first of three Falcon 7X trijets to the Commonwealth of Australia for use by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), the French airframer announced today. Powered by three Pratt & Whitney Canada PW307A turbofans, the 5,950-nm Falcon business jets will be used by the RAAF for government VIP service.
“We are extremely honored that Australia has once again demonstrated its confidence in the Falcon product line,” Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO Eric Trappier said. “The RAAF already has decades of successful experience operating Dassault aircraft, from the Mirage III fighter to the Falcon 20 and Falcon 900 business jets.”
Dassault delivered its first business jet in Australia, the Falcon 20, in 1967, two years after the type’s entry into service. The RAAF took delivery of its first Falcon 20 (then known as the Mystere 20) that same year, serving its transport and utility wing for more than two decades. It was replaced by the Falcon 900, the numbers of which grew to five in the RAAF fleet. Its Falcon 900 fleet operated through the early 2000s.
In all, more than 120 Falcon jets—of which more than 50 are 7Xs—are operated in Australia and other Asia-Pacific countries.
All-electric Alice To Have Magnix Engine Option
Magnix, one of several startups aiming to electrify air travel, announced on Monday that its Magni250 engine was selected to power Israeli airframer Eviation Aircraft’s Alice, a nine-passenger, all-electric aircraft. Eviation’s all-composite Alice is designed as an all-electric airplane that will make the most of the Magni250, which weighs about 130 pounds but delivers 280 kW (375 hp) at 1,900 rpm.
Alice’s three pusher props, each driven by a Magni250, are expected to give it a cruising speed of about 240 knots with a range of 565 nm. Thanks to its lightweight construction, the airplane will be able to carry three tons of batteries, with a capacity of 900 kWh. Eviation is also offering the Alice with Siemens’s 260-kW SP260D motors. FAA certification of the airplane is expected in 2021.
Magnix's partnership with Eviation highlights the “middle mile” market segment—regional airline flights that carry eight to 15 passengers up to 100 miles, according to Magnix’s market research. With conventional aircraft, airlines typically prefer to operate fewer flights with larger-capacity airplanes on these short routes. But all-electric propulsion could slash operating costs so much that more frequent flights on small airplanes or even on-demand service become competitive, said Magnix CEO Roei Ganzarski.
Bell Vows To Build 407GXis for U.S. Navy in Alabama
Bell will build U.S. Navy variants of its 407GXi single in Ozark, Alabama, should it be selected for the service’s Advanced Helicopter Trainer program, the company announced last week. The Navy is seeking to acquire 130 aircraft, and Bell submitted its proposal to the Navy on April 2. Bell’s Ozark facility already delivers unmanned 407s to the Navy through the Fire Scout program.
The 407GXi cruises at 133 knots and is outfitted with the new Rolls-Royce M250-C47E/4 dual-channel Fadec turbine engine and Garmin’s G1000H NXi integrated flight deck. Bell previously announced that it is seeking FAA IFR certification for the aircraft and hopes to have that in hand by August. The company is the current legacy provider of training aircraft for the Navy with the TH57, a derivative of the Model 206. The 407 is currently assembled at Bell’s Mirabel, Canada plant.
Bell is competing in the trainer replacement competition with the Airbus Helicopters H135 light twin and the Leonardo AW119Kx single. “Bell is proud to be the only U.S.-based manufacturer to participate in the Navy Advanced Helicopter Trainer competition,” said CEO Mitch Snyder. “Our Ozark team has the proven capability to deliver advanced training aircraft for the next generation of Naval aviators.” Bell is expected to increase its Ozark workforce by 25 percent to approximately 100 should it win the contract.
Collins Teams On Electric Airlander Project
A program to fit the Airlander 10 helium airship with electric propulsion has won a $1.29 million grant from the UK Aerospace Research and Technology program. Partners for the electric Airlander, named E-HAV1, include its builder, Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), Collins Aerospace, and the University of Nottingham (UoN).
The E-HAV1 program’s initial objective will be to deliver a prototype 500-kW electric propulsor for ground testing, with the ultimate goal of using it to replace its forward fuel-burning engines and eventually building an all-electric version of the airship.
“Reducing our carbon footprint is one of the biggest challenges facing aviation today,” said HAV CEO Stephen McGlennan. “This project will move us closer to our goal of zero-carbon aviation.”
HAV has been in business since 2007. The Airlander 10 was originally designed for the U.S. Army’s since-canceled Long-Endurance Multipurpose Vehicle (LEMV) program that was intended to ferry personnel and materiel in Afghanistan. The HAV program has suffered several setbacks in recent years, including a serious mooring accident in 2016 and the subsequent destruction of the prototype vehicle during another accident in 2017.
The aircraft is designed to carry three to four metric tons of payload aloft for up to five days at a maximum altitude of 14,000 feet. HAV has designed a larger variant that can carry up to 60 metric tons.
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