Safran Makes First Ground Run Of Tech TP Engine

Safran Helicopter Engines made the first ground run of its Tech TP turboprop technology demonstrator engine on June 12 at its facility in Tarnos, France. The Tech TP is based on the Ardiden 3 turboshaft and developed as part of the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.  

Tech TP aims to validate new technologies to deliver an engine that is 15 percent more fuel efficient and has lower CO₂ emissions than current engines while producing between 1,700 and 2,000 shp. It builds on the design of the already EASA certified Ardiden 3C and 3G engines, which have completed more than 10,000 hours of testing. The 3G powers the Russian Kamov Ka-62 while the 3C/WZ16 powers the Chinese Avicopter AC352. More than 250 Ardiden 1 engines are already in service and have flown more than 200,000 hours in Indian airframes. 

The Tech TP will validate engine performance. Testing will include integration of the gas generator, nacelle, air intake, and propeller. It will also be used to evaluate the case for more electric technologies including the accessory gearbox and propeller controller components. Tech TP is slated to eventually be matured to the new “European Turboprop Engine.” The new engine will offer “increased performance, competitive operating costs, and low environmental footprint,” according to Didier Nicoud, Safran Helicopter Engines executive vice president for engineering. 

Argus Sees Increase in Flight Activity

Business aviation in May saw a slight increase over the 2018 year-over-year period, according to statistics released by Argus International in its latest TRAQPak aircraft activity report. North American (U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean) flights bumped over 270,000 for the month, the first time it had reached that peak since 2008, just prior to the global economic downturn.

For the month, fractional light and midsize jet usage saw increases of 4.9 percent and 14.1 percent, respectively. While large-cabin fractional activity experienced a decline of 14.6 percent, the large-cabin segment, overall, saw a 1.5 percent increase, good for a 1.1 percent improvement in business aircraft usage, year-over-year. Overall, midsize jet activity rose 3.4 percent over May 2018’s numbers, while light-jet usage dropped by 1.1 percent.

Compared with the previous month, May saw a 3.4 percent increase in overall activity led by the turboprop segment, which had a 7.4 percent improvement. Fractional turboprops experienced a 23 percent boost month-over-month.

The Denver-based company predicts flight activity to increase through June, with a nearly two-percent boost over June 2018 totals.

Schumer Calls For Mandatory FDRs in All Helicopters

Longtime helicopter critic U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is calling for mandatory flight data recorders (FDRs) in all rotorcraft in the wake of last week’s crash of a Leonardo AW109E atop a Manhattan high-rise. The light twin model year 2000 AW109 went down in rain, fog, and limited visibility and was not equipped with either an FDR or a cockpit voice recorder (CVR). Pilot Tim McCormack, the sole occupant, died. He was not instrument-rated and had pierced the boundary of the midtown Manhattan TFR.

Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said, “To know that the NTSB has been trying for years, without success, to compel the FAA to take action as it relates to making helicopters more valuable to safety by installing flight data recorders is cause for serious concern. If we are going to have helicopters in the air, even highly regulated in terms of when and where they can fly, they should still have black boxes, if, god forbid, a crash occurs. We do this for commercial planes, so it makes all the sense in the world for choppers, too."

New York’s junior U.S. senator and current presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand (D) echoed those sentiments. The NTSB is expected to issue a preliminary report on the accident within two weeks. 

EASA To Tighten Training Rules, Expand EBT

Flight crew training rules for certain helicopter and airplane operations would be updated under a notice of proposed amendment (NPA) from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). In addition to implementing evidence-based training (EBT), this NPA proposes to improve existing requirements covering commercial operations by airplanes and helicopters, specialized operations (such as agriculture, construction, photography, surveying, observation, patrol, and aerial advertisement), and non-commercial operations with complex aircraft.  

Specifically, this NPA proposes to: amend the conditions for multi-pilot operations of single-pilot certified helicopters; amend the requirements for initial training and checking under special ops; amend the rules for recurrent training and checking under commercial and special ops; review the conditions for the operation on different aircraft types or variants; introduce the option for complex aircraft operators to accept previous training and checking, and address minor issues regarding flight-crew training and checking.

“The proposed rules follow a more performance-based approach,” meaning training requirements are updated to reflect more current advnaced-technology methods, EASA said. “Several clarifications are also introduced to maintain a high level of safety for air operations by ensuring a harmonized implementation of regulations.”

Currently, EASA promotes evidence-based training on a voluntary program for airplane operators that fly multi-pilot operations and have access to simulators. The concept will soon be extended to helicopters, EASA said. Comments on this NPA are due by August 13.

OEMs Unite on Aviation Sustainability

Chief technology officers from seven of the world’s major aviation manufacturers including Airbus, Boeing, Dassault, GE Aviation, Rolls-Royce, Safran, and UTC, issued a joint statement about the future of sustainable aviation today at the Paris Air Show.

"Aviation connects our world by efficiently and rapidly moving people, opening new economic opportunities, and transporting food and goods all over our planet,” the companies said. “At the same time, climate change has become a clear concern for our society. Humanity’s impact on the climate requires action on many fronts. The aviation industry is already taking significant action to protect the planet and will continue to do so."

According to the companies, aviation contributes 2 percent of human-made carbon dioxide emissions but is growing fast. Thus, the industry is banding together to reduce net CO₂ emissions despite that growth. Through the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), the aviation industry became the world’s first industrial sector to commit to reducing CO₂ emissions to half of 2005 levels by 2050, and to limit growth of net CO₂ emissions by 2020.

"We are on track to meet those near-term commitments, including the 2019 implementation of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) program as agreed upon by the nations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),” the seven companies noted.

Russia’s Customs Changes Cause Cabotage Confusion

New Customs procedures in Russia affect foreign aircraft planning to conduct private and commercial flights on domestic legs within the country. It’s called Import 53 (IM53) and, according to international aviation operations information provider FltOps Group, “Some of the Customs authorities at airports in Russia don’t even understand it themselves.”

Air taxi, charter, and other commercial operations technically are not allowed to fly domestic legs in Russia under any circumstances—the same rule as previously existed and a fairly standard cabotage rule the world over. However, under IM53, domestic flights by private aircraft operations are permitted if the aircraft’s basic operating weight is below 62,000 pounds and there are fewer than 19 passenger seats.

Historically, basic cabotage rules have not been strictly enforced in Russia, “with operators often being able to do multiple domestic legs, or change the passengers onboard on different legs, or declare charter flights as private to avoid the cabotage rules altogether,” FltOps Groups said. “But with the new IM53 rule, the authorities seem to be attempting to establish a standard rule and position on the whole issue of cabotage.”

Bospflug Replacing Gonsoulin at PHI

Longtime PHI chairman and CEO Al Gonsoulin is stepping down as part of that helicopter services company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan. Gonsoulin will be replaced by Lance Bospflug, who has served as PHI’s president since 2010. PHI announced earlier this month that it had reached a settlement agreement with its unsecured creditors and a financing entity controlled by Gonsoulin that resolved all outstanding objections and motions and is now ready to proceed with a consensual plan of reorganization. A court hearing on that plan is set for today and final approval could come before the end of summer, according to the company.

The settlement agreement contains certain conditions related to debt and cash levels the company must satisfy by the reorganization plan’s effective date and PHI said it is taking the required steps to meet those conditions. Bospflug called the settlement a “crucial and positive turning point” but acknowledged that the company has “work to do to satisfy the terms of the agreement.”

Gonsoulin bought a controlling interest in PHI in 2001 from the Suggs family, who started it with three Bell 47s in 1949. PHI primarily serves the offshore energy and air medical markets. At the time of its bankruptcy filing in March 2019, PHI operated a fleet of 240 aircraft from 70 locations and employed 2,200 worldwide. 

AIN’s Thurber Takes Top Aerospace Journalism Award

AIN editor in chief Matt Thurber has won the 2019 Aerospace Media Award for the Best Safety, Training, & Simulation submission, sponsored by CAE. Thurber’s article—Learning to Fly on Simulated Wings—appeared in the March issue of AIN and chronicled the ab initio flight-training experience of Bill Forelli. The California-based marketing manager for an online electronics retailer soloed in less than 10 hours, leveraging his experience with computer-based programs such as Flight Simulator X and X-Plane.

Forelli not only documented his training flights—real and simulated—on video, but posted them online, comparing his experiences in simulated training and flying “in real life” or “IRL.” Resulting from online connections, Forelli practiced using PilotEdge, a simulation program that connects with live “controllers,” including some with real-world ATC experience and also strictly vetted enthusiasts who have logged more than 1,000 hours directing traffic on other virtual networks.

Thurber—who, himself, keeps a PC-based flight simulator in his office—accepted the award during the 2019 Aerospace Media Dinner and Awards, held June 16 at the Aero Club de France during the Paris Air Show.