Boeing plans mission-control centre to monitor its early 787s

Boeing plans a dedicated mission-control centre to monitor its early 787s in service by harnessing live data streamed from the aircraft.

By harnessing live data from the 787's Airplane Health Management (AHM) system, Boeing aims to deliver 777-level dispatch reliability on its 787 fleet.

Housed in the airframer's 40-88 building at its Everett, Washington campus, the 787 Operational Control Center (OCC) will be manned 24 hours a day with six to seven staff on each of the three daily shifts.

The facility will be staffed by Boeing personnel handing engineering, material management, service engineers and flight test staff.

The OCC is modelled on the company's commercial aviation services unit's Boeing Operations Center (BOC) near Renton, Washington, which is aimed at returning aircraft classified as aircraft on the ground (AOG) to revenue service.

It's like a little mini-BOC," said Mike Fleming, 787 director of services and support, who said the OCC supported the 787 flight test aircraft during extended operations (ETOPS) and system functionality and reliability testing this summer.

"Once we go into service, it will be focused on the in-service airplanes," said Fleming.

As well as AOG avoidance, the operations centre would monitor live data coming from the aircraft, he added.

Fleming said the OCC was "looking at data proactively to get ahead of anything before it [becomes] AOG to make sure we can undertake [preventative] maintenance to stop it getting into that situation".

The arrival of live AHM, which did not exist on the same scale when the 777 first entered service in 1995, had enabled use of the OCC to bolster the 787's dispatch reliability, he added.

"Our customer, All Nippon Airways, has the highest reliability goals in the world. The competition over there is high-speed trains, which have very high reliability. So for us and for our customers, the expectation is that we will rapidly achieve 777-levels of reliability and, in fact, surpass those."

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SLS configuration finalised

After months of speculation, NASA has confirmed the final design of the Space Launch System (SLS), a heavy lift launch vehicle meant to launch NASA payloads into deep space by 2017. The first rockets will be capable of lifting 70 metric tonnes to low earth orbit (LEO), and later versions will be scaled up to 130t.

The first stage of SLS, as many anticipated, will be powered by five Rocketdyne RD-25D/E rockets, also known as space shuttle main engines (SSME), assisted in the first minutes of flight by two five-segment solid rocket boosters also derived from Shuttle systems. The second stage will be powered by the Rocketdyne J-2X, currently under development.

Bringing the launch system to first flight, scheduled for 2017, is expected to cost $18b. Additional details, including development cost of the 130t version, were immediately unavailable.

The announcement was made from the US Senate building in Washington, DC, indicative of SLS's strong congressional support. SLS has been the subject of bitter political battles between NASA and the senate, culminating in a senate subpoena for design documents and a series of angry letters.

"We have been frustrated, I think that's no secret," said Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson. "It came to a head that there was a leak that issued a hypothetical set of circumstances which would double the cost of this space launch systemand that's when senator Nelson and I came forward saying, 'this is sabotage.'"

SLS is the most recent iteration of a series of large planned launch vehicles that have been cancelled and resurrected in various forms, notably the Ares V launch vehicle, to which SLS bears an uncanny resemblance.

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ATR opens pilot training centre in Paris

Turboprop manufacturer ATR has opened a new pilot training centre near Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

The facility is equipped with a Thales ATR 72-500 full flight simulator.

ATR established the centre in partnership with Sim Aero Training, which will house the FFS and provide technical support.

The manufacturer also has training centres in Toulouse, Bangkok and Toronto, and will soon open centres in Johannesburg and Bangalore.

ATR chief executive Filippo Bagnato said the new Paris facility will "allow the load to be lightened for our other training centres, particularly the Toulouse centre, which are already operating full-time".

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China reveals 1 tonne helicopter - report

China has unveiled an one-tonne helicopter at a helicopter expo in China, according to an official media report.
The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) AC310 helicopter was revealed at the China Helicopter Exposition that is being run in the Chinese city of Tianjin, said a report by China's official news agency, Xinhua.
Photographs that appeared on a Chinese website show a helicopter similar to the Schweizer 300C, itself an updated variant of the Hughes TH-55 Osage.

Xinhua quoted Wang Bin, the president of AVIC, as saying the aircraft can be used for training, search and rescue, environmental monitoring, and private use.
AVIC said the AC310 has a "flexible rotor system, can carry two to three passengers and cruise at up to 159 kilometres per hour."
The aircraft conducted its maiden flight in August, and AVIC hopes to get Chinese type certification in May 2012, said Wang. It costs 3.5 million yuan ($541,100), which puts in the price range of wealthy Chinese and flying clubs.

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Braking force affected ill-fated Yak-42's take-off run: MAK

Investigators probing the Yakovlev Yak-42 crash at Yaroslavl have revealed the presence of an apparent braking force on the aircraft during the take-off run, but have yet to understand its origin.

The aircraft had entered runway 23 at taxiway 5 - about 300m (984ft) from the beginning of the strip - for the flight to Minsk on 7 September.

Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) said the Yak-42 accelerated to around 89kt, in line with the engine power setting, but that the pitch did not increase when the crew attempted to lift the nose-wheel at 100kt despite elevator deflection of 9-10°.

About 6s later the engine power was increased to a higher thrust setting. But MAK said that, despite this setting, the acceleration "slowed significantly". It added that this might be explained by "the appearance of an additional braking force", although further tests - possibly using a similar aircraft - are needed to determine the magnitude.

Parts of the braking system retrieved from the wreckage are undergoing special examination, said MAK.

The Yak-42's centre of gravity was within limits; investigators have already disclosed that the aircraft's weight was not excessive, that its flaps were set to their 20° take-off position, and that its stabiliser was set at the 8.7° pitch-up position.

MAK said the pilots had checked all the flight controls, including the elevator which deflected cleanly to a pitch-up position of 21°. The last check was carried out 1min 40s prior to take-off.

Although the elevator deflected to the pitch-up position during the take-off roll, said MAK, the aircraft failed to lift off. Its speed increased to 124kt and evidence at the crash scene indicates that the jet eventually became airborne 400m beyond the runway end, with the elevator deflected 13-14° and the stabiliser set at 9.5° pitch-up.

But the aircraft failed to gain sufficient height to clear the localiser antenna, colliding with the structure and suddenly pitching up to 20° for a few seconds. The aircraft did not achieve a height of more than 5-6m (16-20ft) before banking left and hitting trees and terrain.

Wreckage analysis shows the flaps and slats were in the take-off configuration, the spoilers were retracted and the stabiliser was positioned about 10° pitch-up. There was no disconnection of elevator control cabling.

"Technical investigators are considering all possibilities for the additional braking force during take-off and the reasons why the aircraft failed to lift off in time from the runway," MAK added.

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