Tamarack Aerospace, the company that designed and markets Atlas active winglets, has filed a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization in the Eastern District of Washington, with the first hearing set for November 13. “Since we filed the reorganization plan, which includes repaying all creditors in full, there have been no objections,” Tamarack president Jacob Klinginsmith said. “We could emerge from Chapter 11 by the end of the year.”
Airworthiness Directives from the FAA and EASA issued in June grounded the fleet of 91 Atlas-equipped Citation CJ1s, CJ2s, and CJ3s. That ultimately led to the company filing for bankruptcy protection. The ADs were resolved in July following a factual review by the FAA, EASA, the NTSB, and the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch.
Klinginsmith added, “In July, Tamarack received approval to accept a significant investment for ongoing operations; but the continued Active Winglets sales have allowed us to recover financially and ultimately to present a very strong plan of reorganization.” Company founder and CEO Nick Guida said he company has been “operating normally” through the process and continues to take orders and install winglets.
He added that plans for the immediate future include adding new aircraft types to the stable of models eligible for Atlas active winglets, listing the Embraer Phenom 100, Citation XLS, Challenger 600-series, and Citation Mustang as possible candidates.
AINsight: LOC-I Crashes Highlight Upset Training Value
The June 1, 2009 crash of Air France 447 was a tragedy that put the spotlight on loss of control inflight (LOC-I) accidents, but in no way was it unusual, rare, or unique. That accident is widely considered the watershed moment that finally energized the industry to formalize and even codify formal upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT) for airline pilots. But a decade later, LOC-I accidents remain a leading cause of fatalities in commercial aviation and now evidence points to an increase of these events in business aviation.
In the past two years, two Bombardier Challengers have crashed as the result of in-flight upset events. In all three cases, each aircraft entered a deep stall at altitude and hit the ocean or terrain in a near-vertical descent with little forward motion. Furthermore, each of the respective accident reports points to similarities such as instrument source issues, confusion on the flight deck, and a deep stall.
The inability to recover from an in-flight upset identifies serious gaps in the knowledge, skills, and training required to prevent or recover from these events. To fill these gaps, operators must provide their pilots with formal UPRT that meets or exceeds current regulatory and industry guidance.
Thales' TopMax wearable HUD will see its first business jet application, with certification planned for the Bombardier Challenger 350. StandardAero will engineer this STC, which is expected to be approved by the end of 2020, followed by approvals for the Challenger 300 and 605/650 and then other airframes.
TopMax is a lightweight head-mounted device that can fit over either eye, depending on which one is dominant, and unlike other HUDs it can display full-color imagery. Because it is wearable, the pilot can view synthetic vision, enhanced vision, terrain enhanced vision system, terrain, obstacles, and other imagery with a 360-degree and essentially unlimited field-of-regard. With a traditional fixed HUD, the pilot must be positioned precisely in the eyebox to look through the combiner glass, and HUD imagery is only viewable within the fixed field-of-view in front of the HUD.
It connects to existing avionics and includes a control panel and interface display processor, as well as special stickers that are installed on the flight deck ceiling to map the HUD and the position of the pilot’s head using an infrared sensor on the TopMax headgear. Because its footprint is so small, TopMax can fit into very light jets and single-engine turboprops. Total system weight is about eight pounds and price will be about half that of traditional HUDs.
Ampaire, a developer of hybrid-electric aircraft propulsion, has teamed with Ikhana Aircraft Services to explore modifying Twin Otter airframes to fly with that technology. California-based Ikhana is known for engineering modifications for Twin Otters.
They have launched a NASA-funded study to explore the “electrification“ of the Twin Otter. Under NASA’s Electric Aircraft Propulsion program, the two companies will evaluate various options and produce plans to assess the cost, schedule and risk mitigation for the planned development. The partners’ goal is to be able to put a hybrid-electric version of Ikhana’s 19-seat RWMI DHC-6 300HG Twin Otter.
Ampaire is looking to accelerate the introduction of electrically powered aircraft by modifying existing models, rather than seeking to develop completely new designs. Its first project has been to produce a hybrid-electric version of the Cessna 337 piston single called the EEL. Ampaire first flew the EEL in June and since then has relocated its electric motor from the rear of the aircraft to the front. Both aviation gasoline and electric motors are rated at 210 hp (160 kW). The electric motor is throttled via software so that the stock engine can keep up with it. According to Ampaire, it is moving the EEL's battery pack to a specially designed pod underneath the aircraft.
Textron Plans SkyCourier First Flight in Early 2020
Textron Aviation is making progress on its new high-wing, twin-turboprop Cessna SkyCourier 408 but now expects the utility airplane to make its first flight in early 2020, officials of the Wichita airframer said this week at NBAA-BACE. The program, unveiled in 2017, has progressed considerably over the course of the last few months with the development of the prototype and an additional five flight and ground test articles, they said, adding that wingmate of the prototype is rapidly approaching.
Configurable for both cargo and commuter operations, it is designed to carry a payload of up to 6,000 pounds with an 87-inch cargo door, a flat floor, and a nearly 70-inch tall and wide cabin to accept three standard LD3 air cargo containers. In a passenger configuration, it will have seating for up to 19 passengers, with a netted rear cabin area for luggage and equipment. Capable of flying 200 ktas, the aircraft is powered by two, 1,100-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65SC turboprop engines and two 110-inch McCauley propellers.
Rob Scholl, Textron’s senior v-p of sales and marketing, told AIN even with cargo carrier FedEx as its launch customer, he thinks there’s a “real possibility” that small commuter airlines will have a strong interest in the airplane that has a 5,000-pound maximum passenger payload and 900-nm range.
XTI Reaches Terms on New Investment in TriFan 600 eVTOL
XTI Aircraft this week announced an agreement for an undisclosed lead investor to provide between $17 million and $29 million in fresh investment for its TriFan 600 hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (HeVTOL) aircraft. The deal involves a combination of equity and convertible debt and is due to be closed in January.
In August, Colorado-based XTI raised $25 million through a Series B private placement. “This [funding] is the direct result of our progress over the past 12 months, which included conducting a series of successful initial hover tests, our major collaboration with GE Aviation in July, and receiving 81 orders for the airplane so far,” said XTI chief executive officer Robert LaBelle
The six-seat TriFan 600, which is not primarily intended for the emerging urban air mobility market, is expected to offer a range of up to 1,200 miles and a cruise speed of 345 mph. Using three ducted fans, the aircraft lifts off vertically before two wing fans rotate forward to transition to horizontal cruise at up to 30,000 feet.
Meanwhile, former Cessna president and COO Charlie Johnson rejoined XTI as COO officer this week. He previously served on the company’s board for four years and also as interim CEO in 2016.
As portable electronic devices (PEDs) have become ubiquitous and a generation of new pilots is growing up on them, the aviation community faces a series of challenges in incorporating their use in the flight deck as a tool while preventing the possibility of distraction. “There are numerous benefits for this technology,” said Doug Carr, v-p of regulatory and international affairs for NBAA. “I think the real challenge is how to use it effectively in support of the operation in ways that don't distract from the priority at the moment—which is to fly.”
That’s no easy task, Carr added, because “we see a new generation of flight deck crewmembers very comfortable with using these devices in every aspect of their lives.” Distraction on the flight deck is one of NBAA’s top safety issues, Carr said, adding this “is where a lot of our focus has been.”
AIN conducted an informal poll to gauge the use of PEDs on the flight deck and the policies of different operations. Of the respondents, 51 percent had firm written policies on their use, 30 percent said their organization had no policy, while the remaining 19 percent had only a verbal policy. While providing just a snapshot of the industry’s approach to PEDs in the cockpit, the survey revealed a lack of standardization not only across aviation but even within different niches of the industry.
More than three months after Textron CEO Scott Donnelly told analysts its Wichita-based airframer was putting the large-cabin Citation Hemisphere business jet on hold, executives at Textron Aviation continue to toe the company line, referring to the jet as “on hold” and not canceled. But it’s pretty clear they don’t have any plans in the near future to revive what would’ve been the largest, longest-range Citation.
"It's obviously a market that our customer base grows into,” Textron Aviation senior v-p of sales and marketing Rob Scholl told AIN. “But we’re only going to go into that space if we come out with something that truly differentiates itself.”
The Textron Aviation executives also insisted that the singular issue leading to the program’s pause was problems involved with the development of the Safran Silvercrest engine that would have powered the Hemisphere. It’s the same troubled engine program that caused French airframer Dassault to cancel the Falcon 5X in late 2017, even though Safran insisted in July that it was making progress on fixing the engine’s high-pressure compressor. Scholl and Textron Aviation CEO Ron Draper noted there was no other engine currently available on the market to satisfactorily substitute for the Silvercrest.
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