Tag: wing (Page 1 of 5)

Rolls-Royce welcomes EVA Air as new customer

January 12, 2024 / WIL BALDWIN

Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (London: RR) today announces it has signed a Letter of Intent for a TotalCare® maintenance agreement with Taiwanese airline EVA Air for 36 Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines that will power 18 new Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. The agreement provides the airline with predictability as well as a known cost for the services and maintenance of the fleet.

This will be the first time EVA Air includes the Rolls-Royce Trent engine in its fleet. Rolls-Royce is delighted to welcome EVA Air as a new customer.

TotalCare is designed to provide operational certainty for customers by transferring time on wing and maintenance cost risk back to Rolls-Royce. This industry-leading premium service offering is supported by data delivered through the Rolls-Royce advanced engine health monitoring system, which helps provide customers with increased operational availability, reliability and efficiency.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Eve Air Mobility hosts customer advisory board

December 18, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Melbourne, Florida, December 18, 2023 – Eve Air Mobility (NYSE: EVEX) held its Customer Advisory Board meeting last week at its headquarters in Melbourne, Florida. Customers and partners from 12 companies and nearly every continent came together to discuss the aircraft, operations, ecosystem readiness and services and solutions.

Eve’s Customer Advisory Board includes a wide variety of operators including fixed-wing and rotorcraft operators and lessors, all with the objective of co-creating the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) ecosystem. The discussions included optional items and vehicle configuration and passenger cabin experience. In addition, attendees also received a program and product update from Eve´s leadership.

Eve also took the opportunity to highlight its worldwide sales and support network which includes a broad customer support infrastructure. Eve’s customers will also benefit from Embraer’s global service and support network which includes 10 existing services centers and 66 third-party service centers around the world.

Forward-Looking Statements

Pratt & Whitney receives contract for TF33 engines powering B-52 and E-3 aircraft

November 16, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

East Hartford, Connecticut, November, 2023, PRNewswire – Pratt & Whitney, an RTX (NYSE: RTX) business, was awarded a long-term TF33 engine sustainment contract valued up to $870 million by the Defense Logistics Agency. The TF33 engine provides power to a wide range of aircraft, including the Boeing (NYSE: BA) B-52 Stratofortress and E-3 Sentry.

This agreement is a culmination of the Defense Logistics Agency’s decades-long partnership with the 448^thSupply Chain Management Wing, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., and Pratt & Whitney to establish a holistic sustainment solution. This first-of-its-kind approach will reduce obsolescence, supporting the U.S. Air Force’s wartime readiness today and into the foreseeable future.

Under this contract, Pratt & Whitney will provide comprehensive engine sustainment services for a global fleet of nearly 1,000 engines over a six-year period, with an option of extending for another four years. Services under this contract include maintenance, spare parts, program management, field service, repairs and engineering support.

Sustainment work will run through April 2034 at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, additional U.S. Air Force locations, and Pratt & Whitney’s Southern Logistics Center located in Atlanta, Georgia.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Airbus Helicopters and Naval Group test unmanned aerial system

October 31, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Marignane, France, October 31, 2023 – Airbus Group SE (Paris: AIR) Helicopters and Naval Group, in collaboration with the French Armament General Directorate, DGA (Direction génerale de l’armement), and the French Navy, have tested the SDAM demonstrator (Système de Drone Aérien Marine/ Naval Aerial Drone System) from a multi-mission frigate (FREMM). The trials took place on board the French Navy frigate, Provence, in the Mediterranean Sea between the 2nd and the 9th of October. The vessel had previously been adapted by Naval Group to operate the SDAM. These sea trials were arranged to demonstrate the system’s high performance from an operational warship and the SDAM’s capabilities for surveillance and intelligence missions.

The derisking study for the SDAM programme was awarded to Airbus Helicopters and Naval Group by the DGA. The objective is to design, produce and test a rotary wing unmanned aerial system demonstrator for the French Navy. The system works with the Airbus Helicopters VSR700 unmanned aerial system and the I4Drones® mission system developed by Naval Group. Naval Group has also been tasked with the integration of the system onboard military vessels. The project also involves French SMEs like Hélicoptères Guimbal and Diades, contributing to the creation of a local naval UAS industry in France.

Forward-Looking Statements

Airbus signs 1.2 billion Euro contracts for support of France’s A330 MRTT fleet

October 24, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Getafe, Spain – 23 October 2023 – Airbus Group SE (Paris: AIR) Defence and Space has signed two contracts valued at 1.2 billion euros in total with France’s Direction generale de l’armement (DGA) and Direction de la Maintenance Aeronautique (DMAe) for the Capability Enhancement and the In-Service Support of the French A330 MRTT’s (Multi Role Tanker Transport) fleet.

Standard 2 contract: Stepping stone of the Multi Role Tanker Transport of the future

The Standard 2 contract provides for the capability extension of the French MRTTs, focused on connectivity as a key pillar and also self-protection capabilities. With the aim of being connected in all circumstances, including jammed environments and extreme weather conditions, the aircraft will be equipped with the MELISSA satcom station.

These new capabilities will convert the French A330 MRTT into a high bandwidth communication relay node, with command and control capabilities, and will build the stepping stone of the A330 MRTT’s integration into the future air combat cloud within the FCAS.

10 years In-service support

The second contract covers the In-Service Support of the ‘Phénix’ fleet for 10 years, plus two optional years, at the Istres Air Base, southern France, home to the 31st Strategic Air Refuelling and Transport Wing. Airbus, as the prime contractor, together with its preferred partners in France, will be responsible for fleet modernisation, maintenance, logistics and technical support to ensure the aircraft’s operational availability. The local Airbus team in France will be doubled to support these activities.

JAL and REGENT sign agreement to study Seaglider operations in Japan

October 8, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Tokyo, Japan – Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 9201) and REGENT Craft Inc. (Headquarters: United States, CEO: Billy Thalheimer, hereinafter referred to as “REGENT”) have announced the signing of a comprehensive partnership agreement to establish a system for seaglider operations in Japan. The agreement follows a strategic investment in REGENT made earlier this year by JAL Innovation Fund, the CVC of JAL. Through this agreement, the two companies aim to implement next-generation mobility where people can move safely and comfortably with zero emissions.

The all-electric seagliders being developed by REGENT are wing-in-ground effect craft that fly several meters above the water on a cushion of air trapped between the wings and the water’s surface. Seagliders are attracting attention as a new form of sustainable mobility, further expanding the possibilities of new transportation methods that do not place a burden on the environment, as well as the development of new markets.

The new agreement signifies a commitment to deepen business development between the two companies. With the goal of establishing a system of seaglider operations in Japan, JAL aims to utilize its accumulated knowledge of safe operation while REGENT brings its technological expertise to the table. Together, the companies will collaborate to drive awareness and understanding of seagliders in the region, identify jurisdictions for seaglider operations by JAL and JAL Group operators, develop infrastructure for seaglider operations – including a planned demonstration flight in 2025 – and obtain certification for the safe operation of electric seagliders. In addition, JALUX Co., Ltd. (location: Minato-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Satoru Takahama) will act as a sales agent for the maritime craft.

Gulfstream G700 and G800 engines earn FAA certification

September 11, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Savannah, Georgia, September 8, 2023 — Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. today announced the all-new Gulfstream G700 and Gulfstream G800 Rolls-Royce Pearl 700 engines have earned Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification, bringing the aircraft program another step closer towards entry into service and customer deliveries.

The G700 and G800 feature high-speed, aerodynamic Gulfstream wing design as well as an all-new winglet designed for the two new aircraft. Along with the Rolls-Royce Pearl 700 engines, these innovations help reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

The G700 features the most spacious cabin in the industry and can fly 6,650 nautical miles/12,316 kilometers at Mach 0.90 or 7,750 nm/14,353 km at Mach 0.85, and its maximum operating speed of Mach 0.935 makes it the fastest aircraft in the Gulfstream fleet. The G800 can travel 7,000 nm/12,964 km at Mach 0.90 and 8,000 nm/14,816 km at Mach 0.85, the longest range in the business aviation industry.

The G700 and G800 both include the Gulfstream Symmetry Flight Deck with the industry’s only electronically linked active control sidesticks, the most extensive use of touch-screen technology in business aviation and Gulfstream’s award-winning Predictive Landing Performance System.

In the cabin, the G700 and G800 feature the Gulfstream Cabin Experience with 100% fresh air, the industry’s lowest cabin altitude, whisper-quiet noise levels and abundant natural light from iconic Gulfstream Panoramic Oval Windows.

Rolls-Royce to complete initial F130 engine testing for B-52J by year end

September 7, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Rolls-Royce (OTC: RYCEY) today announced that it is on track to complete initial F130 engine testing for the United States Air Force B-52J Stratofortress by the end of the year. Continued Rapid Twin Pod Tests at NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi have accomplished all of Rolls-Royce’s initial goals and allowed for the gathering of unprecedented amounts of data early in the program, further de-risking the integration of the F130 engine onto the B-52J.

In September 2021, Rolls-Royce F130 engines were selected by the Air Force to replace the existing powerplants in the B-52 fleet, with over 600 new engine deliveries expected. The new engines will extend the life of the B-52 aircraft for 30 years and are so durable they are expected to remain on wing for the remainder of the aircraft life.

F130 engines will be manufactured, assembled and tested at Rolls-Royce facilities in Indianapolis, the company’s largest production facility in the U.S. The F130 is derived from the Rolls-Royce BR family of commercial engines, with over 30 million hours of operation and a high reliability rate. It’s a proven, dependable engine with a fuel-efficient design.

U.S. Army awards Airbus contract for helicopter modernization

August 21, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Arlington, Virginia – The U.S. Army awarded Airbus (OTC: EADSY) a $27.8 million contract to upgrade the Army National Guard Security & Support Battalion Mission Equipment Package (MEP).

Upgrades to the MEP expand the UH-72A Lakota’s capabilities to conduct day and night operations by providing an advanced moving map, enhanced digital interfaces, new monitors, an airborne mission management system and other system improvements.

MEP equipped UH-72As are specifically designed to execute National Guard operations across a range of missions including domestic operations, counter-drug and border security.

The Army contract will retrofit up to 50 Security & Support Battalion aircraft deployed throughout the United States. There are currently 107 in the fleet.

These aircraft will be modified at Airbus’ Columbus, Mississippi helicopter production facility, where more than 480 UH-72A and UH-72B Lakota, based on the H145, have been delivered to the US Army since 2006.

The contract will be managed by Airbus U.S. Space & Defense. Operating under a Special Security Agreement, Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. offers world-class satellite, laser communication, rotor, and fixed wing solutions to meet the most complex U.S. defense, security, space, and intelligence requirements.

NASA and Boeing unveiled the new X-66A livery at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. (Image: Boeing)

U.S. Airlines to Support NASA-Boeing Sustainable Flight Demonstrator Project

July 27, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

OSHKOSH, Wis., July 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ – Boeing [NYSE: BA] and NASA will collaborate with U.S. airlines to advise the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator (SFD) project and development of the X-66A research aircraft. As part of a new sustainability coalition, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines will provide input on operational efficiencies, maintenance, handling characteristics and airport compatibility.

NASA and Boeing also unveiled the new X-66A livery today at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

The X-66A will test the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) airframe configuration and will be built from a modified MD-90 aircraft at a Boeing facility in Palmdale, Calif. It is NASA’s first X-plane focused on helping achieve its goal of net-zero aviation greenhouse gas emissions.

When combined with expected advancements in propulsion systems, materials and systems architecture, a single-aisle airplane with a TTBW configuration could reduce fuel consumption and emissions up to 30% relative to today’s domestic fleet of airplanes.

The U.S. airlines will offer feedback throughout the project, including:

Design: Airline participants will share feedback on sustainable operations and airport compatibility. While the X-66A will have a wingspan of 145 feet, the TTBW design could be used by airplanes of different sizes and missions and may benefit from folding wing tips to accommodate existing airport infrastructure.
Simulation and lab testing: Airline pilots will have a chance to experience the X-66A through a flight simulator and assess the vehicle’s handling characteristics.
Flight testing: Airline operations and maintenance teams will assess the X-66A as modifications are made to the airplane. Flight testing is slated for 2028 and 2029 out of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base.

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