Test Establishes Gulfstream G650 As World’s Fastest Civil Aircraft

Gulfstream has announced the Gulfstream G650 recently reached Mach 0.995 as part of its 1,800-hour flight-test program. This accomplishment establishes G650 As World’s Fastest Civil Aircraft.

Photo Credit: Gulfstream

According to Gulfstream, the aircraft achieved this speed during flutter testing, which evaluates the aircraft’s damping responses following an input from an external test device.

Flutter testing is performed at a variety of frequencies, speeds, altitudes, weights and centers of gravity. In order to achieve the maximum speed of Mach 0.995, Gulfstream experimental test pilots Tom Horne and Gary Freeman along with flight test engineer Bill Osborne took Serial Number (S/N) 6001 into a dive, pitching the aircraft’s nose 16 to 18 degrees below the horizon.

Photo Credit: Gulfstream

During the dive, flutter exciters introduced a range of vibration frequencies to the wing, tail and flight control surfaces to ensure the aircraft naturally dampened out the oscillations without further action from the pilots.

Source: Gulfstream

Bombardier Aerospace Builds All-Composite Manufacturing Validation Unit

Bombardier Aerospace has announced it has reached another significant Learjet 85 aircraft program milestone, having successfully built the first all-composite manufacturing validation unit (MVU) for the aircraft’s pressure fuselage section.

Photo Credit: Bombardier

This unit will be used to validate the design concepts, manufacturing processes and quality as the program advances towards the beginning of production, scheduled for later this year.

“This is another crucial step towards the start of production of the first Learjet 85 aircraft,” said Ralph Acs, Vice President, Learjet 85, Bombardier Business Aircraft. “Our next step will be to apply what we learn from this first manufacturing validation unit to the second unit, in order to confirm our technology readiness.”

Source: Bombardier

Bombardier Learjet 85 Aircraft On Schedule

Bombardier Aerospace recently reported on its Learjet 85 program development.

Photo Credit: Bombardier Aerospace
 
Bombardier reports having successfully exited the Joint Definition Phase in February 2010, Bombardier Learjet is now working with over 40 suppliers worldwide in the detail design phase. All aircraft performance objectives continue to be achieved and the program is on schedule for entry into service in 2013.

Photo Credit: Bombardier Aerospace
 
The new Learjet 85 aircraft will be the first Bombardier Aerospace jet to feature an all-composite structure and will be the first all-composite structure business jet designed for type certification under U.S. Federal Aviation Administration FAR Part 25.

An extraordinary advancement in next-generation flight, the Learjet 85 aircraft’s all-composite structure will allow Learjet aircraft designers to maximize cabin comfort while minimizing drag and improving performance.

Source: Bombardier Aerospace

Gulfstream Announces Second Mid-Range G250 Completes First Flight

Photo Credit: Gulfstream

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. recently announced that a second large-cabin, mid-range Gulfstream G250 completed its first flight. Gulfstream designed and built the super mid-size business jet in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The aircraft flew for 1 hour and 57 minutes, reaching an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,096 m) and a speed of 195 knots. “We are very pleased with the progress that we’ve made,” said Pres Henne, senior vice president, Programs, Engineering and Test, Gulfstream. “Both aircraft have performed wonderfully. We have a lot of work ahead, but we are excited about where we are.”

Source: Gulfstream

Citation CJ4 Built On Cessna's New Assembly Line Makes First Flight

Photo Credit: Cessna

Cessna Aircraft Company recently announced the first Citation CJ4 built on Cessna's new assembly line has made its first flight.

According to Cessna, the Citation CJ4 is a true upward extension to the single-pilot-certified family of Citation CJ family – delivering the strongest performance and payload balance in the series along with advanced amenities and system architecture.

Photo Credit: Cessna

Configurable for seven to eight passengers in the main cabin, the CJ4 is expected to have a cruise speed of 435 knots, a full fuel payload of 1,000 pounds and maximum payload of 2,100 pounds, more than 300 additional pounds compared to the typical CJ3.

Source: Cessna

Gulfstream G250 Completes First Flight

Gulfstream Aerospace recently announced that its newest business jet, the large-cabin, mid-range Gulfstream G250, has successfully completed its first flight.

Photo Credit: Gulfstream

The aircraft was flown to 32,000 feet and achieved a maximum speed of 253 knots. Pilot Shapira commented that the flight was “extremely smooth with no issues.” IAI’s Flight Telemetry System enabled IAI and Gulfstream flight-test engineers on the ground to monitor the G250 aircraft systems in real time during the flight, as well as record the data from the first flight test point. “The G250 performed extremely well, just as we expected,” said Pres Henne, senior vice president, Programs, Engineering and Test, Gulfstream. “We’re looking forward to 2011 when we’ll begin delivering this aircraft to the customers who had tremendous input in its design.”

Source: Gulfstream

Cessna Delivers First Citation X Retrofitted With Winglets

The Cessna homepage announces the delivery of the first Cessna Citation X to be fitted with Elliptical Winglets.

Photo Credit: Cessna

According to the story, Cessna and Winglet Technology, LLC, collaborated to develop the latter's patented Elliptical Winglet for retrofit on Cessna's Citation X business jet.

The patented Elliptical Winglet shape ensures the lift distribution closely matches optimum lift distribution along the span of the wing, which reduces the induced drag of the aircraft. The resulting drag reduction enhances operational performance for the Citation X including decreased fuel consumption, increased speed and increased range.

Source: Cessna

Cessna Offering Aircell High-Speed Internet on Large Citations

Cessna Aircraft Company has announced it will offer the Aircell in-flight, high-speed wireless data for the Citation XLS+, Citation Sovereign and Citation X.

The system provides complete wireless broadband laptop, tablet PC or PDA connectivity for passengers and crew at altitudes greater than 10,000 feet above the ground in the continental United States.

Photo Credit: Cessna

The system, delivering maximum speeds comparable to a typical DSL connection, features an ATG 4000 transceiver, a configuration module, and two antennas, and it requires Aircell's Axxess II dual-channel Iridium satellite telephone system (a standard feature on the Citation X).

system for the Citation XLS+, Citation Sovereign and Citation X. The system provides complete wireless broadband laptop, tablet PC or PDA connectivity for passengers and crew at altitudes greater than 10,000 feet above the ground in the continental United States.

The system will be an option for deliveries starting in the second quarter of 2010.
"The Aircell system will greatly enhance the already superb utility of Cessna Citations as powerful business tools, providing constant, en-route contact in a fast-paced business environment," said Roger Whyte, senior vice president, Cessna Sales & Marketing.

Photo Credit: Cessna

The system, delivering maximum speeds comparable to a typical DSL connection, features an ATG 4000 transceiver, a configuration module, and two antennas, and it requires Aircell's Axxess II dual-channel Iridium satellite telephone system (a standard feature on the Citation X).

Features of the system include multiple user access via the in-cabin wireless router, the ability to send and receive e-mails with attachments, access to virtual private networks (VPN), and various service plans.

Source: Cessna

Gulfstream Celebrates Wing Join, Power On, And Engine Install For Gulfstream G250

Photo Credit: Gulstream

Gulfstream Aerospace recently celebrated the wing join, power on and engine mount of its newest mid-cabin jet, the Gulfstream G250.

On June 1, 2009, the twin Honeywell HTF7250G engines, each of which provides 7,445 pounds of thrust, were mounted on the airframe.

“The G250 program major milestones – the fuselage join earlier and now the wing join, power on and engine install – have gone smoothly,” said Pres Henne, senior vice president, Programs, Engineering and Test, Gulfstream. “We are delighted that we are on target for another milestone – the G250’s first flight – later this year.” The G250 offers the largest cabin and the longest range at the fastest speed in the industry’s mid-size class.

Source: Gulfstream

Gulfstream Tests Composite Structural Wing Assembly

Gulfstream Aerospace recently completed testing on its first all-composite structural wing assembly. The testing took place in the structural test hangar at Gulfstream headquarters in Savannah.

The structural wing assembly, also known as a wing box, includes the wing’s spars, ribs, stiffeners and skins. The all-composite device was manufactured at the new Gulfstream Research and Development Center (RDC) II Laboratory Building by the company’s Advanced Composites group.

Gulfstream engineers and technicians were involved in the design, development, manufacturing and testing of the wing assembly. The 18-foot structural wing assembly, which weighs 465 pounds, is similar in size and shape to the outboard section of the Gulfstream G650 aircraft with a 35 percent weight reduction. It is the biggest section of a wing that could fit in the RDC II Laboratory’s autoclave, a high-pressurized oven used to cure composites.

The Advanced Composites team performed a number of tests, including one to design ultimate loading with the wing in good condition and again after the wing had been damaged intentionally. The test program confirmed that the team was able to accurately predict non-linear behavior and eventual structural failure by analysis.Using composite materials instead of metal reduces an aircraft’s weight and cost, the fuel it burns and the carbon dioxide it emits.

Composites also improve the aircraft’s efficiency, durability and skin appearance. In new aircraft designs, weight reduction influences the size and thrust of the engines, which further adds to the reductions in fuel burned and carbon dioxide emitted.Gulfstream has incorporated modest levels of composites in its planes for more than 20 years. They are used in floor panels, furnishings, fairings, cover pieces and the aft pressure bulkhead section of the fuselage.

Source and Photo Credit: Gulfstream

Cessna Citation CJ4 Wing Mated to Fuselage

Cessna Aircraft Company has completed wing/fuselage mate of Citation CJ4 serial number 003. The new Citation CJ4, the latest in the popular CJ series, will enter service in 2010.

Three aircraft, a prototype and serial numbers 001 and 002, have started certification flight test in Wichita, already accumulating more than 800 flight hours of developmental testing. The first two production aircraft were assembled to production specifications on production tooling while No. 3 is the first CJ4 to be assembled with production tooling on the new assembly line.

The Citation CJ4 joins the CJ1+, CJ2+ and CJ3 as part of one of the most popular families of business jets in production. The original CitationJet was introduced in 1993 and the family of nearly 1,400 airplanes has amassed more than 2.1 million flight hours since its introduction in 1993.

Source and Photo Credit: Cessna

Cessna Announces New Seating Configuration for Skyhawk

Cessna Aircraft Company has announced the option to order a new Skyhawk with the Crew/Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) training seat. A Skyhawk with the CRM configuration is on display at Cessna’s exhibit at the Sun ’n Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Fla.

The CRM training seat is a single, forward facing seat positioned aft and center of the pilot and co-pilot seats. “This new seat configuration option for the Skyhawk was designed with airline training schools and university flight programs in mind,” said John Doman, vice president of Worldwide Propeller Aircraft Sales. “Moving the second student forward and to the center of the aircraft increases his or her visibility of the flight deck and allows the student to be more involved in the flight as a crew member versus a passenger.”

Additional benefits to the CRM training seat are a 27-pound useful payload increase, expanded utility category envelope and possible lower insurance costs. The Skyhawk has become the best-selling, most-flown airplane in the world with more than 43,000 delivered.

Source and Photo Credit: Cessna

The 2008 General Aviation Technology Challenge Seeks Greener And Quieter Aircraft

The CAFE Foundation's homepage reports on the 2008 General Aviation Technology Challenge to be conducted at CAFE's Flight Test Center in Santa Rosa, California from August 2-10, 2008.

According to the CAFE Foundation, NASA and CAFE have partnered to create a new challenge for 2008 to advance five vital General Aviation Technologies: noise reduction, fuel efficiency, speed, safety and ease of use.

The first-ever "Green Prize" for transportation will test true "Environmental Efficiency". Aircraft competing for the Green Prize will advance all of the valuable measures of energy use; MPG as well as speed and payload.

Reducing vehicle noise emissions is vitally important to general aviation. The new GAT Community Noise Prize Challenge places a major priority on the reduction of noise emitted into the community.

Making personal aircraft safer and easier to fly is a primary goal of the new Aviation Safety Prize Challenge. This $50,000 prize will recognize achievement in implementing electronic pilot assistance (eCFI) along with rewarding outstanding handling qualities.

The $25,000 CAFE 400 Prize is a 400 mile cross-country air race over Northern California. However, each aircraft's speed result is tempered by its takeoff distance capability as well as by its fuel efficiency. Burn too much fuel in the CAFE 400 and you are disqualified.

Source: The CAFE Foundation

"The Jet" By Cirrus Design Makes Its First Flight

Cirrus Design Corporation reports that the most highly anticipatedaircraft in the company’s history, currently called ‘The-Jet’, made its first flight on July 3rd, 2008.

According to Cirrus Design, the45-minute flight was conducted from company worldwide headquarters atthe Duluth International Airport, Duluth, MN and the aircraft performed flawlessly.

The-Jet is an all new personal aircraft that blends boththe high performance single-engine class and the very light jet (VLJ)category.

Single engine fuel efficiency,flexible seating options for a family of up to seven, state-of-the-artadvanced avionics and flight systems and the Cirrus Airframe ParachuteSystem (CAPS) are each hallmarks of the new design.

Source: Cirrus Design

Cessna Flies Production Model Of Skycatcher

Cessna Aircraft Company reports on the completed first flight of the first production model SkyCatcher on May 1st.

According to Cessna...

The 30-minute SkyCatcher flight departed Cessna Aircraft Field Airport adjacent to McConnell Air Force Base and consisted of flight maneuvers evaluating the controllability and stability of the aircraft. The SkyCatcher, flown by Cessna Engineering Test Pilot Dale Bleakney, returned to Cessna Field (KCEA) as scheduled where it will continue development testing.

In addition to having two aircraft in the test program, Cessna is set to begin static and fatigue testing on a separate airframe in mid-May.

Preliminary design parameters for the SkyCatcher include a maximum gross weight of 1,320 pounds, a service ceiling of 15,500 feet, a useful load of 490 pounds and a usable fuel capacity of 24 gallons.

It has a cabin width at shoulder height of more than 44 inches, equaling that of the much-larger, 6-place Cessna 206 Stationair. It features two top-hinged cabin entry doors and forward pivoting seats giving access to a 12.5 cubic-foot baggage compartment.
Source: Cessna

Boeing tests fuel cell powered plane

Boeing recently announced that a manned airplane has flown using hydrogen fuel cells as a power source, a first in aviation history.

The fuel cell plane is the work of an engineering team at Boeing Research & Technology Europe in Madrid, with assistance from industry partners in Austria, France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

According to Boeing...

"Boeing is actively working to develop new technologies for environmentally progressive aerospace products," said Francisco Escarti, BR&TE's managing director. "We are proud of our pioneering work during the past five years on the Fuel Cell Demonstrator Airplane project. It is a tangible example of how we are exploring future leaps in environmental performance, as well as a credit to the talents and innovative spirit of our team."

A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that converts hydrogen directly into electricity and heat with none of the products of combustion such as carbon dioxide. Other than heat, water is its only exhaust.

A two-seat Dimona motor-glider with a 16.3 meter (53.5 foot) wingspan was used as the airframe. Built by Diamond Aircraft Industries of Austria, it was modified by BR&TE to include a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell/lithium-ion battery hybrid system to power an electric motor coupled to a conventional propeller.

Three test flights took place in February and March at the airfield in Ocaña, south of Madrid, operated by the Spanish company SENASA.

During the flights, the pilot of the experimental airplane climbed to an altitude of 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) above sea level using a combination of battery power and power generated by hydrogen fuel cells. Then, after reaching the cruise altitude and disconnecting the batteries, the pilot flew straight and level at a cruising speed of 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) for approximately 20 minutes on power solely generated by the fuel cells.

According to Boeing researchers, PEM fuel cell technology potentially could power small manned and unmanned air vehicles. Over the longer term, solid oxide fuel cells could be applied to secondary power-generating systems, such as auxiliary power units for large commercial airplanes. Boeing does not envision that fuel cells will ever provide primary power for large passenger airplanes, but the company will continue to investigate their potential, as well as other sustainable alternative fuel and energy sources that improve environmental performance.
Source: Boeing

First flight of the Prototype Cessna Model 162 SkyCatcher just months away

Gizmag.com reports that Cessna is nearing the first flight of the new Model 162 Skycatcher.

According to the official Cessna Skycatcher site.

With first flight of the Prototype Cessna Model 162 SkyCatcher just months away, a series of milestone projects is progressing in the development of this entirely-new aircraft that will introduce the next generation of pilots to the exciting world of general aviation.

The Skycatcher site also reports that the first deliveries and full production of the Skycatcher are expected in the second half of 2009.

Source: Gizmag and Cessna

HondaJet interior revealed

The HondaJet website features images of the interior of their new light jet.

Honda made the announcement at the annual National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention. The company showcased new exterior color scheme studies, and an animated tour of the exclusive HondaJet sales and service facilities.

Honda Aircraft Company also announced a partnership with Flight Safety International to create a new flight simulator and pilot training program for HondaJet.

According to Honda's press release, HondaJet's new interior concept was introduced with a special focus on human fit, ergonomic efficiency and safety for the customer.

Honda also reports that the HondaJet's new cockpit design incorporated learning from extensive study on the human factors of pilots and pays special attention to the layout. The production version of HondaJet will also incorporate an all-glass avionics package developed for HondaJet by Garmin.

Honda also provided a glimpse into potential additional production colors.

Will superconductors power a new generation of aircraft?

NASA and the Department of defense are funding research that could result in a new generation of aircraft powered by superconducting motors.

Gasworld.com reports on the research to study liquid hydrogen powered superconductor motors for electric aircraft.

Superconductors use cold temperatures to allow electricity to flow without electrical resistance for greater power.

Superconductor motors would be a leap beyond today's jet aircraft, producing efficient, low-pollution air travel

The big premiere of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner

CNN.com features a story on Boeing's premiere of the new 787 Dreamliner which took place at their assembly plant in Everett, Washington.

The new 787 Dreamliner is the first commercial aircraft constructed mostly with carbon-fiber composites. The lighter carbon-fiber material, along with new engines, is expected to save 20% on fuel costs.

USA Today reports on the advantage of the carbon-fiber technology in the Dreamliner, providing larger windows and a cabin atmosphere with moister air, making flights more relaxing.

The Dreamliner is designed for passenger comfort right down to the cabin lights, which adjust with the time of day.

You can see more of 787 Dreamliner at NewAirplane.com