Persuading operators to forsake time-tested tube-and-wing narrowbodies and widebodies for new configurations will be hard. But if the upward trend in fuel price continues, or accelerates as global demand for energy escalates, the promise of dramatic fuel savings may force a shift.
The true test of whether composites can replace metals as the dominant raw materials from which aircraft are manufactured has still to come. Whether it is an all-new aircraft from Boeing before 2020 or Airbus after 2025, the next-generation single-aisle airliner will determine the balance of materials.
When KLM Flight 1233 took off from Amsterdam's Schipol Airport on June 29, on an otherwise unremarkable scheduled service to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, it marked a milestone in the airline industry's drive to control fuel costs and meet emissions targets by using bio-derived fuels.
Eight years after the Concorde was retired, civil aviation remains firmly limited to subsonic speeds. Market studies continue to show an untapped demand for high-speed flight, but the financial commitment to tackle the technical challenges of developing an economically and environmentally viable supersonic transport has yet to materialize.
Pioneering aerospace engineer and Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan makes no secret of his frustrations with today's air transport system or his gloomy prognosis for the future unless radical changes are made. Rutan's forthright views are built on a career of breakthrough innovations, fierce independence and a string of eye-catching designs that culminated with the world's first privately developed sub-orbital spacecraft.
Draconian deficit-reduction measures and yawning differences between service providers and users over who will pay make it hard to see how airspace modernization efforts in the U.S. and Europe can pick up the pace needed if system capacity is to meet the air traffic growth projected.
Low expectations and lack of leadership from major customers are preventing rotorcraft from making a move to the next generation. This is particularly clear in the case of speed, which in the military arena translates into survivability and in the commercial world into productivity—but at a cost that operators might not prove willing to pay.
Aviation is not immune to the hopes and hype surrounding emissions-free electric vehicles, and European aerospace giant EADS has fueled the debate by unveiling a concept for an all-electric airliner it believes could emerge within 25 years.
One issue could shape the future of general aviation—the likelihood that leaded aviation gasoline will be outlawed before the end of the decade. Years of work have failed to find a drop-in replacement for 100-octane low-lead (100LL) avgas, forcing the GA community to take the unprecedented route of recertifying the entire fleet to use a new fuel. Until recently the task looked almost impossible, but technical progress and attention from regulators now promise a breakthrough.
The pursuit of faster flight speed and affordable access to space are constant companions in aerospace's quest for continued relevance, and are set to remain so for the foreseeable future.
Once the smoke clears from the three-year debate over U.S. space policy ushered in by the return of a Democratic administration to the White House, NASA's human-spaceflight activities will look a lot like those planned and started under the preceding Republican administration.
When I was asked to write an opinion piece on whether the space shuttle program was worth the cost, I immediately agreed because I have a significant bias toward justifying the program that has dominated my career at NASA. However, because I am very interested in accurately describing the legacy of the shuttle program, I have attempted to make an objective evaluation.
As the crew of Atlantis and their controllers go through—one more time—the complex, demanding, yet rewarding process of conducting the final space shuttle mission, it is appropriate to reflect on the legacy left to us from the years of designing, building and flying this amazing machine.
Since the space shuttle Columbia roared aloft with John Young and Robert Crippen on the STS-1 mission 30 years ago (left), NASA's fleet of winged human spacecraft has produced a huge gallery of images, many of them unimaginable before they were taken and unforgettable afterward. As Atlantis completes the 135th shuttle mission since the first launch on April 12, 1981, here is a small sample from the archives, selected to give an idea of the historic advances the shuttles enabled, and what it was like for the men and women who flew in them.
Wanted: New astronauts. Must like tight spaces, long trips, commercial travel, foreign languages. Limited opportunities available. If NASA were to take out a classified advertisement, it might read something like that, now that the last space shuttle mission, STS-135, is heralding the end of an era. As Atlantis lifted off July 8, NASA managers were busy outlining their vision for the astronaut corps, from when they will be hired to what they will do.
Scaled Composites is exploring potential development options for a twin-fuselage, hybrid-powered aircraft that could prove to be a practical solution to the long-held dream of a flying car. Dubbed the Model 367 BiPod, the two-seat vehicle is configured with removable wings, stabilizer and tail tips to enable swift conversion into a road vehicle. Seating one person per fuselage, the BiPod is designed to be driven like a car from the left-hand cockpit and flown as an aircraft from the right side.
One of the criticisms of China's policy in aerospace is that it focuses on glamor rather than profit. And it is true that the government and its manufacturers do pour public funds into high-profile projects to make complete aircraft, even though it might be more profitable to focus on the duller but serious business of making parts and supplying services to the global industry. In fact, China is doing both. While the state is chasing headlines and glory and deferring profits, private enterprise is just chasing the money.
Amy Butler (Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. )
The multinational Joint Strike Fighter drew fire last year from all sides, including its international customers, the U.S. Congress and—most publicly—then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates owing to ballooning cost, delayed deliveries and unacceptably slow testing progress. Gates admonished prime contractor Lockheed Martin by withholding more than $600 million of award fee, fired the project's two-star general officer, and slowed the development and production portions of the F-35, the largest single aviation program in Pentagon history. Seven months into 2011, Vice Adm.
Ankara has big plans for its domestic defense production and increasingly NATO's southeastern ally wants not only to develop the local defense industry but to be a factor in the international market.
July 25-31—Experimental Aviation Association's Airventure Oshkosh (Wis.). Wittman Regional Airport. Call +1 (920) 426-4800 or see www.airventure.org July 26-27—American Association of Airline Executives' Seventh Annual Aviation Air Quality Conference. Embassy Suites Portland (Ore.) Downtown. Also, July 31-Aug. 2—Northeast Chapter Winter Operations and Deicing Conference and Exhibition. Renaissance Hotel, Seattle. See www.aaae.org
The last flight of the space shuttle provides a historic tribute to the outstanding achievements of NASA's astronauts, engineers, scientists, technicians and managers during four decades of the shuttle era. While the shuttle program effectively is over, the debate “Was it worth it?” is not (see pp. 70 and 72). Critics often point to the 14 lives lost in the Challenger and Columbia accidents and the enormous cost—more than $175 billion. The high cost and flight risks eventually led to the retirement of the shuttle, leaving the U.S. without a way to reach space on its own.
Singapore Airlines, whose fleet includes 12 Airbus A380s, is the No. 1-ranked mainline carrier in Aviation Week's Top-Performing Airlines study. Philippines-based Cebu Air is the highest-ranked in the low-cost/niche carrier category, and Australia's Regional Express Holdings is once again the top regional. Analysis and the full TPA study rankings begin on page 40. Singapore Airlines photo by Sim Kok Chwee.
John Slosar, CEO of Cathay Pacific, states that the Emissions Trading System (ETS) “is just an ordinary tax” (AW&ST June 13, p. 26). I wish it were so. The basis for the ETS has yet to be confirmed and, scientifically, it would make more sense if the European Union imposed a tax on milk consumed by airline passengers during flights into and out of the EU. At least this type of tax would be seen for what it truly is. Westminster, Colo.
