Lufthansa Technik took delivery yesterday of the first of three Airbus A350-900s for conversion to a VIP interior for the German Federal Government’s Special Air Mission Wing. It’s the first conversion of this kind to an A350-900, according to Lufthansa Technik.
To be delivered by the end of July to the German Air Force, the widebody twin will be equipped with a “transitional” cabin for the transport of government officials and their delegations that will be later replaced with a “fully featured VIP cabin” that the other two A350s—military registrations 10+01 and 10+02—will have installed at Lufthansa Technik.
The transitional cabin on this first A350—military registration 10+03—will include office and conference areas, a multifunctional lounge, washrooms, and a kitchen with modern equipment. It will receive the permanent VIP cabin once completions are wrapped up on its sister A350s.
“Over decades we have formed a comprehensive partnership with the German Air Force, in the course of which we have already equipped a large number of aircraft with special cabins for government representatives,” said Lufthansa Technik VIP and special mission aircraft services v-p Kai-Stefan Röpke. “We are pleased to be able to extend this cooperation to install the first government cabin in an Airbus A350. This is not only a first for our long-standing customer German Air Force or for Lufthansa Technik, but for the entire industry.”
AINsight: Aeromedicals and the Pandemic
Once Covid-19 reared its ugly head a few short months ago, it quickly became clear the virus was going to cause serious disruptions to daily life, including social distancing and many other behavioral modifications. Flying is not the most amenable of activities consistent with social distancing. Neither are face-to-face medical examinations.
When the impacts of the pandemic were becoming apparent, pilots, aviation organizations, and AMEs asked the FAA to consider temporary relief from the requirement for pilots to obtain regular ongoing FAA medical certificates. The FAA issued legal order FAA-2020-0312 on March 26 that didn’t extend medicals for three months, but rather said the FAA won’t take action against a pilot who is knowingly violating the FARs and flying with an expired medical certificate.
The agency later muddied the water when its Office of Aviation Safety amended the exemption to permit pilots to operate outside of the U.S. using theoretically expired medical certificates, but for only two months, to May 31, not June 30. Then, on April 20, the FAA issued a Special FAR that provides relief from regulatory requirements, including medical considerations—again until May 31.
For sure, there are confusing messages from the FAA. But the bottom line is that, if you can, update your medical certificate on schedule if at all possible. The exemptions are there to assist you if you can’t.
VoltAero Unveils Production Version of Cassio eVTOL
VoltAero on Wednesday revealed the production configuration for its Cassio hybrid-electric aircraft. It intends to offer three variants of the single pusherprop aircraft, each featuring a distinctive aft main wing and tail boom plus a canard configuration: the four-seat Cassio 330 with a combined hybrid-electric power rating of 330 kW, the six-seat Cassio 480 (480 kW), and the 10-seat Cassio 600 (600 kW).
The French company started flight testing the fixed-wing design in early March and plans to achieve type certification under EASA’s CS-23 rules in time for deliveries to begin by the end of 2022. Intended for a variety of business and general aviation applications, including air taxi, the Cassio family will offer range of up to 920 nm and 200-knot cruise speed. Takeoff and landing distance is projected to be less than 1,800 feet and VoltAero said the aircraft will be able to operate for up to 10 hours each day, allowing multiple rotations. Max takeoff weight will be below 2.5 tonnes (5,511 pounds) to comply with CS-23 requirements.
The hub of the Cassio’s proprietary propulsion system is an internal combustion engine that provides electrical power to three 60-kW electric motors. In standard operations, the electric motors would be used for takeoff and landings (partly to reduce noise), with the engine extending range.
NetJets has partnered with North Carolina-headquartered Cellex to make antibody testing available to its employees in the coming weeks. The program augments the fractional ownership provider’s joint initiative with its pilots’ union, NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots, to offer Covid-19 testing for free to its employees through Quest Diagnostics.
The initiatives come as NetJets prepares for economies to begin reopening, said NetJets president of sales, marketing, and service Patrick Gallagher. “We are committed to testing 100 percent of our crewmembers initially and offering ongoing testing to anyone who travels to high-risk locations, has been exposed to Covid-19, or becomes symptomatic.”
In addition, NetJets is continuing its commitment to helping people on the ground as they return to offices, he said, and he pointed to a recent NetJets relief mission involving the transport of a half-million Covid-19 antibody tests from China through the partnership with Cellex.
The mission kicked off on May 1 and involved four NetJets Bombardier Global 6000s that flew to Shanghai to collect the tests. “Within a mere 36 hours of the aircraft departing Shanghai, tests were being administered to frontline health care workers and first responders in Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina,” Gallagher said.
Ross Perot, Jr. believes the 26,000-acre Fort Worth Alliance airport complex is just the place to develop and test a new generation of delivery drones and passenger eVTOL aircraft. He is a big backer of this new technology, hosting the TexasUP summit of industry investors in urban air mobility last year and driving the formation of a “mobility zone” at Alliance.
Referring to that property, Perot said, “We have a big lab” for UAS and eVTOL trials, including residential home delivery. Perot envisions a future where heavy-lift drones would be used to move rail shipping containers and working with industry to bring clients to Alliance for the manufacture, training in, and maintenance of these and other new-generation aircraft.
Speaking at the Air Force’s “Agility Prime” virtual conference this week, Perot stressed the historical importance of military programs as a catalyst for breakthroughs in civil aviation that included GPS navigation and aircraft such as the Boeing 707 and 747. He sees the military playing the same role today with eVTOLs.
Despite the current Covid-19-generated crisis and industry skepticism with regard to UASs and eVTOLs, Perot sees them as inevitable. He characterized the market for these aircraft as potentially worth $1.6 trillion and called it a “revolution in aircraft [that's] going to be here before we know it.”
Leonardo Sees Hit from Lower Civil Helicopter Deliveries
Leonardo sees most of the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic falling on the civil side of its business. Announcing first-quarter results yesterday, the Italian aerospace and defense group indicated that a “heavy” slowdown this year could diminish income from the civil helicopters sector, as well as from its aerostructures work and its ATR regional airliner joint venture.
The group’s civil aviation businesses accounted for around 18 percent of revenues in 2019. It said military and government markets continued to show more resilience.
Earnings suffered a 75 percent decline in the first quarter, falling to €41 million ($43 million) before interest, tax, and amortization. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a net loss of €59 million ($61 million) for the first three months of this year. Revenues finished only 5 percent down, at €2.6 billion ($2.7 billion).
Revenues from Leonardo’s helicopter business fell by around 5 percent during the first quarter to €704 million ($731 million). The company attributed part of the decline to reduced deliveries of its AW139 twin. Leonardo is trying to introduce a so-called “smart delivery” process in which it shares as much information as possible with customers via digital means to reduce the need for them to send staff to the factory.
As the aviation industry deals with the Covid-19 crisis, some companies such as Air BP are helping the customers and communities that they deal with around the globe. In the U.S., the fuel provider donated three million gallons of jet-A to customers FedEx and Alaska Airlines to assist in the delivery of medical supplies and other essential goods to areas at the greatest risk for the virus.
To support Australia’s Royal Flying Doctor Service, the company donated 35,000 N95 masks for use by its frontline staff, and in France it has donated nearly 16,000 gallons of fuel for flights that will transport medical staff and equipment between hospitals when requested by authorities. In its UK home, Air BP is providing free jet fuel for numerous air ambulance services customers to assist their life-saving duties during the pandemic.
In addition, the company previously made a $2 million donation to the World Health Organization’s Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
“We are pleased to be able to play our part in supporting our communities during these difficult times,” said CEO Jon Platt. “Our commitment to safe, reliable fueling operations remains unwavering and we’re grateful for the hard work of our front-line Air BP operators who continue to enable us to meet the needs of our customers.”
VT Group Wins Support Contract for New Marine One Helo
The U.S. Navy awarded technology integrator VT Group a five-year, $105 million contract to support the presidential helicopter fleet with research, test, and evaluation, as well as integrated logistics, engineering, and maintenance support. The new contract continues the support VT Group has provided the Presidential Helicopters Program Office since 2004 and integration of the new Sikorsky VH-92A helicopter into the fleet.
Currently comprising a mix of VH-3D and VH-60N helicopters—derivatives of the Sikorsky Sea King and Black Hawk helicopters, respectively—as many as 21 VH-92As are expected to serve as replacements to the fleet, which provides transport for the U.S. president as Marine One, as well as the vice president and heads of state, among others. Two test VH-92As are also part of the procurement.
“The presidential helicopters support contract is the flagship of VT Group's growing aerospace engineering portfolio,” said VT Group president and CEO John Hassoun. “We are immensely proud to be NAVAIR's [Naval Air Systems Command’s] partner-of-choice for this high profile, mission-critical program, and equally proud of our engineers and technical experts who remain committed—day in and day out—to NAVAIR's 100 percent mission success requirement.”
Cora eVTOL Set To Resume Flight Testing in New Zealand
Wisk hopes to resume flight testing of its Cora eVTOL aircraft before the end of this month, subject to the further lifting of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in New Zealand, where much of the program’s development work is being conducted. Since April 28, when New Zealand moved from level four to level three of its lockdown, Wisk technicians have been able to work in the company’s hangar preparing its prototypes to fly. Tests will be able to restart when level two is achieved, possibly by the end of next week.
“New Zealand has done a good job [responding to the Covid-19 pandemic], having been very restrictive early on,” explained Gary Gysin, CEO of California-based Wisk. “We will probably be able to resume flight testing earlier than we would have been able to do in the U.S. and this gives us an advantage.”
The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand recently held talks with the FAA to agree on plans for American officials to be able to observe type certification work on the Cora and share data. Gysin told AIN he hopes this will help to establish the safety track record of the fully-autonomous, all-electric aircraft, saving some time for the program and also “generating trust and confidence.”
It takes talent to shoot good images of airborne aircraft as the sun sets near the horizon, and it takes much more talent to snag a great photo. Daniel Braz, Jr., a helicopter maintenance manager for Ocean Explorer do Brasil, certainly achieved greatness with this Photo of the Week winner of an Airbus Helicopters EC155B1 at São Paulo Congonhas Airport, the perennial host airport for LABACE. Thanks for sharing this beauty with us, Daniel!
If you'd like to submit an entry for Photo of the Week, email a high-resolution horizontal image (at least 2000 x 1200 pixels), along with your name, contact information, social media names, and info about it (including brief description, location, etc.) to photos@ainonline.com. Tail numbers can be removed upon request. Those submitting photos give AIN implied consent to publish them in its publications and social media channels.
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