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In the recent press it has been announced that the Victorian state Government has engaged the services of a DC 10 water bomber. Little detail has been release on the nature of the arrangements but it is a good start for the introduction of heavy metal into the fire bombing stakes here in Oz. the DC 10 is in the 11000 category simlar to the IL76 gallon but has a pressurized water load and can carry fire retardant which should assist its effectivness. A lot of observers are seeing the up coming fire season as having the makings of a horror event. It would be good to over react rather than under react. Of the other options, Various people conversant with the 747 have opined that it could easily manage the maneuvering required and the reports of the benefit of the IL76 in the Spanish fires are very enthusiastic. Some water scooping Amphibians would also be pretty good. Let us hope what is available is matched with what is required and the not invented here attitude does not prevail.
We wait with trepidation.

‘Stealth’ blades take wind turbines off the radar. It seems nothing is ever simple in these days of environmental concern, technological complexity and growing populations and standards of living. A recent example is the innocent windmill. Some see them as a major answers to major problems. Others see them as bird killers, infra noise generators and a con job that will cost too much and deliver too little. Most likely they will find their place but one problem that snuck up on a lot of us is that they can screw with Domestic aviation radars.
The big, fast-moving blades of modern wind turbines interfere with radar for both planes and ships. But ’stealth’ technology could solve the problem. Read more…

Recently a student asked me what an open Rotor was and I replied it was basically a turbo prop but with things being how they are a sexier name had to be invented so they came up with this. It got me to thinking; as we are progressively backed up against the wall by reality it is only a matter of time before the open rotor makes its reappearance and so it is timely to have a look at how accurate my glib explanation was. Basically the problem with propellers is that they suffer from severe efficiency losses as the speed of the propeller tips approaches the speed of sound and basically the advantage of them is that they have to accelerate the working fluid (the air they fly in) less because they accelerate a lot more of it. I.e. they have in effect a much greater by-pass ratio than Turbo fans. The big question is where is the best trade off for speed versus efficiency. Time will tell. the Russian Bear long range patrol aircraft with its huge counter rotating props has been with us for years and conferred enormous range advantages when compared with the turbo jets of the time albeit with a considerable disadvantage in reliability. The new A400 European Military lifter will set new standards of frugality and is forecast to cruise at 450 kts which is quite respectable. After the next round of geared fans it looks as it there is only one place to go and that is the Open Rotor. Look for it in the next new wave; maybe with a blended body conformation aircraft. Read more…

A new system to help guide pilots away from severe storms and turbulence in remote ocean regions is being developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., NASA said this week. NASA is funding the development of a prototype that should be ready for testing next year. The system combines satellite data and computer weather models with artificial intelligence techniques to identify and predict rapidly evolving storms and other potential areas of turbulence. “Turbulence is the leading cause of injuries in commercial aviation,” said John Haynes, program manager at NASA headquarters, in Washington. “This new work to detect the likelihood of turbulence associated with oceanic storms using key space-based indicators is of crucial importance to pilots.” Turbulence has been cited widely as a possible factor in the recent loss of Air France 447 in the Atlantic Ocean, but it is not yet clear what role, if any, it played in that accident.

The prototype system will identify areas of turbulence in clear regions of the atmosphere as well as within storms. Pilots on selected transoceanic routes will receive real-time turbulence updates and provide feedback. When the system is finalized, it will provide pilots and ground-based controllers with text-based maps and graphical displays showing regions of likely turbulence and storms, NASA said. “Pilots currently have little weather information as they fly over remote stretches of the ocean, which is where some of the worst turbulence occurs,” said scientist John Williams, one of the project leads at NCAR. “Providing pilots with at least an approximate picture of developing storms could help guide them safely around areas of potentially severe turbulence.” Click here for the full NASA news release, which includes to a link to related graphics.
From Avweb http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/1411-full.html#200686

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On 7th July a highly modified Antares Motor glider took to the air under the power of an electric motor driven by a hydrogen and oxygen powered fuel cell.
The electric motor has a maximum power of 25 Kw and an over all propulsion efficiency of 52% in the cruise and 44% in the climb. It has a range of about 750 km and a maximum level cruise of 170 kph.
The aircraft is a significantly modified Antares Glider constructed by the Lange company and is manufactured from state of the art composites with input from the DLR (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft und Raumfahrt) BASF Fuel Cells and Serenergy Denmark.
The Antares DLF H2 is configured in the more or less standard motor glider manner with a pusher propeller mounted above the fuselage behind the single pilot seat cockpit with the Hydrogen fuel in one pod slung under the Port wing and the Fuelcell reactor slung under the other.
It emits no CO2 and is almost silent. If the hydrogen is obtained from renewable sources no CO2 is produced at any point in the energy chain of the flight.
For full details go to the DLF portal web site http://www.dlr.de/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1/86_read-18278/

Some years ago (maybe 30) I read in Flight that the time was coming when a latest generation Combat aircraft was going to take the entire GDP of a small nation. At the time I took it seriously and though it a bit of an exaggeration but as time has worn on it seems they were joking at the time using delightful British irony but that they had unwittingly hit the nail on the head. That day is here with the F22 that the US wont sell to any one because it cost them so dear and mega Airliners taking many Billions to create and 100s of millions to buy.
As the financial crisis looms and doomsayers prattle away I wonder whether now is the time for a paradigm shift. Skip the A380 and A350 and B787 etc and go for a highly standardized no frills blended body well and truly subsonic alternatively powered (fuel cells and props?) solutions that will halve the cost per kg per kilometer (Note I use metric as I am talking of the future)
Anyone with the courage to do it should (?!) clean up.

The prospect of a worldwide carbon tax for airline passengers is gathering pace after the Australian government demanded the inclusion of the aviation industry in the global climate change treaty.

The Australian administration has proposed that airlines are set a carbon dioxide reduction target as part of the treaty that will emerge from the Copenhagen summit this year. The latest plan would see responsibility for any aviation deal handed over to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is overseeing the treaty talks.
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The body that monitors UK airspace is seeking a solution to the potentially disastrous problem of commercial and military aircraft disappearing in radar blackout zones caused by wind farms.

National Air Traffic Services (Nats) has asked Raytheon, the American defence company, to design the world’s first system for allowing radar to see through wind farm interference.

The cost of the £5 million project is expected to be picked up by the wind energy industry. Read more…