AINalerts will not be published tomorrow in observance of Thanksgiving Day. Publication will resume on Friday, November 27.

Dassault Partners in Regional AI Competition

Dassault Aviation and Ile-de-France Region have kicked off the Paris Region Challenge AI for Industry 2020 competition, which this year focuses on ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve Falcon business jet maintenance and fuel efficiency. Under the competition, Dassault provides the scientific topic, technical data samples, engineers, and data scientists to assist competing teams based in the region, as well as participate in the judging.

This year’s challenge involves using AI algorithms to develop virtual sensors capable of estimating local stress experienced by a Falcon jet using only aircraft instruments. The French airframer hopes the competition will serve to optimize Falcon maintenance programs and further development of lighter, fuel-efficient structures.

“The competitors will process real industrial data, which is unusual in this kind of competition,” said Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO Eric Trappier. “On top of the scientific aspects, the topic includes a real economic and environmental dimension, both for aviation and other areas of industry such as transport and energy.”

Competing teams will comprise start-up companies and laboratories in and around Paris, about 10 of which will be selected by a panel of judges to submit a processing methodology based on the provided data. The winner will be offered a collaborative project with Dassault lasting 12 to 18 months, while the Region will award it €500,000 ($595,615) to support the project.

Bluetail Establishes Records-scanning Network

Nearly seven months after its launch, Bluetail has established through various partnerships a digital aircraft records scanning network comprising more than 120 locations in the U.S. and Canada. The centers are located in cities and near general aviation airports, including Teterboro, New Jersey; White Plains, New York; Las Vegas; West Palm Beach, Florida; Dallas/Fort Worth; Scottsdale, Arizona; Seattle; and San Jose and Van Nuys, California.

The network itself took about nine months to vet partners and build, Roberto Guerrieri, who co-founded Bluetail with Stuart Illian, told AIN. “The missing piece was the network that integrates with our software,” he explained. “So now we feel like we have a complete solution to get true, back-to-birth records.”

Scanning centers adhere to both FAA Advisory Circular 120-78A (electronic signatures, recordkeeping, and manuals) and FAR 43.12 (falsification of maintenance records). They also follow the same physical security and best-practice scanning protocol and are SOC 2 and HIPAA-compliant. The aircraft records Bluetail digitizes and backs up to the cloud include logbooks, manuals, and maintenance records.

“We’re getting interest from some big MROs and from one of the larger maintenance-tracking software companies because we fill a hole they don’t have,” Guerrieri said. “That’s the story that we’re getting loud and clear from the market. It’s a niche, but it’s one that’s so needed.”

Rolls-Royce To Begin Unblended SAF Tests

With the intense focus of the aviation industry on the lowering of its carbon footprint, Rolls-Royce is looking ahead to when sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) becomes more widely available and will begin exploring the use of 100 percent SAF on one of its engines this week. The powerplant maker will conduct testing with one of its Trent engines on a stand at its Derby, UK test facility, using SAF produced by World Energy in California and delivered by SkyNRG.

According to Simon Burr, the company’s director of product development and technology, it will induct an engine from its Pearl family—which powers the in-flight-test-Gulfstream G700 and Bombardier Global 5500 and 6500—into the 100 percent SAF test program in the new year. “I’m confident the fuel we’re testing would work quite happily on all our current engines,” he told AIN, adding a next step will be test flights on 100 percent sustainable fuel in cooperation with airframers. “But we have to support our engines going back decades and so we have to be diligent and say, ‘What would we require if we want to run 100 percent SAF on an engine that was built 30 years ago?’”

As the test program continues, Rolls-Royce will continually reassess the status of the market to decide if and when it should begin backtesting its legacy engines.

Russian Helicopters Delivers First Ansat to Europe

Russian Helicopters has made its first European delivery of an Ansat light twin. The air ambulance-configured helicopter was delivered to the Ministry of the Interior for the Srpska Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the first of three under contract with this client between now and 2022.

"This delivery testifies that Ansat is competitive on the European market, and we see potential for new orders,” said Russian Helicopters director general Andrey Boginsky. 

In addition to the EMS interior, the Ansat helicopters for Bosnia-Herzegovina will be equipped with searchlights, fast-rope deployment system, a winch and an external sling. The delivery set includes five seats, which can be installed instead of the medevac module, as well as an active vibration control system. The contract also includes maintenance and flight training.

Ansat helicopters continue to be approved for more option installations by Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency. Installations approved just this year includes emergency floats, Covid-19 medical isolation units, and an advanced, ergonomic medical module. Last year, the certified fuselage life of the helicopter was increased to 16,000 hours.

NBAA Gears Up for VBACE with Wide Slate of Exhibitors

About 170 exhibitors from around the industry are slated to showcase their latest products, information, and services at NBAA’s first-ever Virtual Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (VBACE) next week on Wednesday and Thursday.

NBAA noted that these exhibitors represent a “who’s who in business aviation,” including manufacturers such as Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Cirrus, Collins Aerospace, Dassault, Embraer, Honda Aircraft, Honeywell, Pilatus, Pratt & Whitney, and Textron Aviation. In addition, leading service providers in the areas of fuel delivery, flight planning, avionics, and missions support are among those on the exhibit list, and more than a dozen companies are exhibiting for the first time at any NBAA show.

“We are pleased to see that the most innovative companies in business aviation have chosen VBACE as the state-of-the-art platform to strategically connect with their customers and clients,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen.

The platform provides for interactive booths with demonstrations, one-on-one video meetings, resources highlighting products and services, and virtual backpacks for attendees. Along with the exhibits, VBACE will include a suite of educational sessions, keynotes that include singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley, and other activities. NBAA said the sessions and some other elements of VBACE will be accessible until December 31.

Ontic Adds To Legacy Instrument Manufacturing

Ontic has acquired the manufacturing and repair rights to four aircraft instruments from Flightline Electronics, continuing to build on its manufacture of OEM legacy products. Terms of the transaction, announced this week, were not disclosed.

The instrument manufacturing rights Ontic acquired from Flightline, a New York-based subsidiary of Ultra Electronics, included electromechanical and digital instruments used by various commercial and military aircraft. Ontic said it will manufacture the instruments at its North Carolina plant.

“We are very pleased to have completed this deal and look forward to fully transitioning the manufacture and repair capability over the coming weeks,” said Ontic v-p and chief commercial officer Gareth Blackbird. “This product line fits extremely well with our North Carolina facility and we look forward to providing long-term support and the supply of cockpit instruments to the extensive customer base.”

The acquisition adds to Ontic’s manufacture and servicing of more than 7,000 legacy aircraft parts that are licensed or were acquired from OEMs such as Honeywell, Collins Aerospace, Safran, Thales, and GE Aviation.

CAE To Buy TRU’s Canadian Operations

Making its second acquisition deal in as many weeks, CAE reached a conditional agreement to acquire TRU Simulation + Training Canada from Textron for a cash consideration of $40 million. To close late this year or in early 2021, the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

Included in the transaction are TRU’s Montreal manufacturing operations, which primarily involve flight simulator devices for the air transport market, along with the ETOPS facilities in France and Malaysia and a minority interest in a joint venture in Iceland. TRU Simulation + Training Inc. and its Tampa, Florida operations remain in the Textron fold.

The acquisition will expand CAE’s reach into simulator lifecycle support services, in addition to adding simulator orders, full-flight simulator assets, and global airline customers, CAE said. This deal follows an agreement announced this month for CAE to buy Amsterdam, Holland-based Flight Simulation Co. (FSC) for €70 million ($83 million).

"This acquisition demonstrates our ability to bolster our position and expand our addressable market and our global customer base during this unprecedented period of disruption,” said CAE president and CEO Marc Parent. “Along with the recently announced FSC acquisition, we have been able to make investments that are expected to better enable CAE to meet the global demands of our customers in support of their training and simulation needs."

Western Logs 1st Avance L3 Aftermarket Install in PC-12

Western Aircraft has completed the first aftermarket MRO STC installation of the Gogo Avance L3 connectivity system in a Pilatus PC-12 turboprop single. The airborne connectivity system has been a factory option for new-production PC-12s since mid-2019, however.

“We’re thrilled to offer our customers, especially Part 135 operators, the stability of an STC for a modification to their aircraft’s in-flight Wi-Fi connectivity system,” said Western Aircraft avionics sales manager Beau Hawkins. “Our relationship with Gogo Business Aviation and our experience with PC-12 aircraft made this a perfect fit as it expands its service to Canada.”

According to Gogo, Avance L3 is “tailor-made” for turboprops and light jets, allowing users to browse the internet, retrieve email, and access online accounts on up to 25 devices at once. Gogo also recently lowered connectivity to 3,000 feet agl, down from 10,000 feet agl, benefitting PC-12 operators who don’t spend much time flying above 10,000 feet.

David Salvador, v-p of aftermarket sales for Gogo Business Aviation, said operators and owners of hundreds of in-service PC-12s will be able to benefit from Western Aircraft’s aftermarket Avance L3 connectivity solution. Western Aircraft is a Pilatus-authorized sales and service center for the PC-12, as well as the PC-24 light jet.