Apr 2, 2013 ... is for Airbus internal use only. Nothing in this publication should be copied or
reproduced without the prior permission of the publisher. All facts ...
UK EDITION APRIL 2013
AIRBUS NEWS FOR AIRBUS PEOPLE
Breaking new ground ________ A new customer: Lion Air
________ A350 XWB: Meet the first flight test crew
________ Innovation: Cutting down on noise
More on ONE ONLINE on Airbus|People
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Editorial the Americas with over 1,400 more on order. And now, the creation of an industrial facility in Alabama confirms that we are as significant a player nationally as any other US aerospace company. Airbus’ newest manufacturing plant will help us to secure future competitiveness in the world’s largest single-aisle market. The Mobile FAL also fulfils Airbus’ goal to diversify our cost base to more dollar-based regions, providing a natural hedge against dollar/Euro exchange-rate fluctuations. Dear Colleagues, On 8 April, Airbus turned over the Alabama soil with a spectacular ground-breaking ceremony to launch construction work at its new A320 Family final assembly line (FAL) in Mobile. Work to bring the facility to life marks a fresh and significant milestone in the partnership between Airbus and the United States. It is great news for Airbus, our customers and shareholders and great news for the US aerospace industry. We’ve had a presence in the US for nearly 40 years with significant engineering, training and support facilities; the country represents about 40% of Airbus’ aircraft-related procurement spend. There are over 1,600 Airbus aircraft currently flying in
The new assembly line will create jobs across America, in Europe and throughout our supply chain. It further extends Airbus’ industrial footprint, joining existing final assembly lines in Europe and the Pacific Rim and confirming Airbus as a truly global aircraft manufacturer. The dirt has been turned in Mobile, construction begins this summer; hiring is underway and aircraft assembly will commence in 2015. We will deliver our first made-in-USA aircraft in 2016. It’s a historic time for Airbus and we can all be very proud to be part of an indisputably international player. Barry Eccleston, president and chief executive officer, Airbus Americas
Airbus engineers already work in Mobile, along the road from the future Alabama FAL. They are responsible for various interior elements of the A350 XWB, the A380 and A330. “
Airbus has had a presence in the Americas since our very beginnings. Building a final assembly line here is a natural next step in getting ever closer to our US customers. ” Fabrice Brégier, Airbus president and CEO.
One is published by Airbus S.A.S, 1 rond-point Maurice-Bellonte, 31707 Blagnac cedex, France /// Head of publication: Aline Vuillequez; Corporate editors: Anne Raynaud, Kristin Ronningsen, Carole Bonafe (Derichebourg) Writers: Kate McCulloch (I3M), Marc Stephens (I3M), Ed Parkinson (I3M), GDII /// ONE in the UK is produced by Lesley Turney /// Design & production: GWLNSD /// Photos: copyright Airbus; Photo coordination: Caroline Bernad, Sophie Lepissier (exm company) /// Photo credits: Airbus photo library, Hervé Goussé, Philippe Masclet, Pascal Pigeyre, Florence At, Emmanuelle Gailing, Sébastien Ognier, Fabien Espinasse, Pierre Barthe, Alexandre Doumenjou, Jean-Baptiste Accariez, Nicolas Fonade, Fabrice Lepissier, Frédéric Lancelot, Céline Sadonnet, Frédéric Maligne, Artem Tchaikovski (exm company), Benjamin Ziegler, Christian Brinkmann, Bengt Lange, Michael Lindner, Hergen Deuter, Hermann Jansen, Alain Postigo, Sylvain Ramadier, Fabrice Cassou, Nicolas Noret, Martin Chainey, Neil Phillips, Rob Cousins, Mark Chaloner, Keith Freeman, Simon Williams-Tully, Jane Widdowson, Nicolette Wells, Pablo Cabellos, Antonio Viola, Mango Producciones S.L. Emmanuel Nojaroff, Finnair /// Illustrations: Cecile Lahaye (T-Systems) /// This newspaper is for Airbus internal use only. Nothing in this publication should be copied or reproduced without the prior permission of the publisher. All facts and figures correct at time of going to press. For feedback on ONE, please send a mail to
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#69 UK EDITION
Contents EDITORIAL 2 Barry Eccleston, president and chief executive officer
IN FOCUS 4 A320 FAL in the USA – A groundbreaking day
IN THE NEWS
A320 FAL in the USA: A groundbreaking day Page 4
7 A400M Programme – Civil certification leads the way to first delivery 8 Long-range ramp-up – Strong demand takes A330 production to highest ever rate 12 Airbus subsidiaries – Tomorrow’s sky today 14 Airbus in Russia – Presidential birthday greetings
360° VIEW 10 Airbus latest milestones in pictures
AIRBUS IN THE UK
A400M: Civil certification leads the way to first delivery Page 7
15 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
Patenting ideas Noise reduction Photogrammetry NEO first cut Flying at the zoo Leading by example Family values Buddy scheme booming Apprentices news Picture perfect Living with dementia
AINNOVATION 27 Learning from the past – A greener engine alternative
CUSTOMER 28 A new customer – Lion Air targets Indonesia’s massive growth potential 30 Market focus on China – The middle class takes off
EDUCATIONAL
Reducing noise: One visits the Airbus Noise Technology Centre.
32 Signed, sealed and delivered – from contract to delivery, get to know all steps in the process
PEOPLE 34 Getting closer to customers – Changing places, sharing skills 35 Model maker – Monsieur miniature 36 A350 XWB First flight – Meet the first flight test crew
THE HISTORY LESSON 38 They built Airbus – Bernard Lathière, leading with charm
PICTURE OF THE MONTH A350 XWB MSN1 with engines
Apprentices news
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Page 24
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IN FOCUS A320 FAL in the USA
A groundbreaking day In another major step in Airbus’ internationalisation, business leaders, politicians, suppliers and community members joined Airbus employees at the Brookley AeroPlex to turn over the Alabama soil on 8 April. Together, they celebrated the groundbreaking at the site of the future Mobile single-aisle final assembly line (FAL). Due to be completed by 2015, the US FAL facility will have a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people globally - within Airbus and throughout the aviation industry and locally across the Gulf Coast region.
Construction workers: Fabrice Brégier and Tom Enders lead Mobile’s ground breakers.
soccer fields could fit inside the Mobile FAL. That’s a lot of football. Airbus, “a citizen of the world” Attended by approximately 2,000 invitees including Airbus president and CEO Fabrice
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Brégier, the final assembly line’s creation was declared a “game-changing” development in Airbus’ relationship with the United States where it already is the largest export partner for the country’s ae--rospace industry. Guest speakers included the CEO and President of the first airline to receive an A320 Family aircraft from the FAL, JetBlue Airways’ David Barger. “The new plant demonstrates the level of Airbus’ commitment to being close to its important American operator base,” he said. Victoria Corob, a Mobile school student, spoke about what young people locally hope the FAL will mean for them. “Airbus’ growth
here means that if I keep working hard, I can achieve my dreams and might even be able to look forward to a future with an exciting
“
Now the sun will never set on Airbus’ truly global presence.
”
Fabrice Brégier, Airbus president and CEO.
IN FOCUS
JetBlue on show: The Alabama FAL’s first delivery customer lent an A320 for the ceremony. and rewarding aerospace career...right here,” she said. “What we are doing here is a successful extension of what we seek to do everywhere,” Fabrice told guests. “We design and make great aircraft. And we do it by partnering with great people here and everywhere we have a presence. Mobile represents Airbus’ transformation into a truly global company. We might have deep European roots but we have always considered ourselves to be citizens of the world.”
What Airbus Americas employees say: “Airbus is the word in Mobile” “It is thrilling to see the city and region buzz with excitement about the FAL. As a recent transplant to the area, I quickly got a sense of the commitment Mobile has to encouraging businesses to put down roots here, working side by side with city leaders and,
more importantly, becoming engaged members of the community. When I tell people that I moved here to work for Airbus, I always hear a positive response.” Curtis HART, S enior Project Coordinator, Engineering Operations. “Airbus is the word in the Mobile community! Everyone I know wants to be involved with the FAL. The city is definitely getting ready. Infrastructure has been changing for the better, which makes us very happy. Roads are improving and Mobile has made great strides in welcoming what it is being touted as the ‘prize employer’. I am definitely excited about the FAL’s arrival. We are all anticipating the changes this exciting time will bring personally and to the community. The airspace over Mobile will definitely have more sparkle with A320s flying overhead.” Tami W illiamson, Senior Engineer. /////.
Top three US airline customers by fleet size US Airways Delta Air Lines United Air Lines Airbus in the United States: ... Spent $12 billion with US suppliers in 2011, which equates to supporting 210,000 American jobs ... Partners with hundreds of suppliers in more than 40 states ... Spends 42% of global aircraftrelated procurement with US-based suppliers
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IN FOCUS
Moving into Mobile
Ulrich Weber is in charge of building work at the new FAL Ulrich, how are you organising the construction? The Mobile FAL will take around two and a half years to build. The detailed design is being performed by local architects and engineers and construction is split into several major work packages. Project management and supervision is performed by a local construction programme manager, supported by Airbus Facility Management. Are you using an existing design? The new plant will adopt the same build process as the Hamburg and Tianjin assembly lines. Consequently, the FAL stations are very similar but, since aircraft painting services are subcontracted for all USA-built A320 Family aircraft, the sequence of some activities is slightly modified. Anything new of note? Building the FAL from scratch means that some obsolete systems will be replaced. For example, the ESAO ground test system, used for computerised testing of aircraft functions, will be implemented with new generation of digital simulators. How green will the FAL be? The new plant will be built and operated in accordance with the US Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard. To attain a certain level of LEED certification, ‘credit points’ for environmentally-friendly operation have to be collected. The concrete measures Airbus will need to take to earn those points will be determined during the FAL’s detailed design phase.
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The US FAL: ...Is a $600 million Airbus investment in the United States and the A320 Family ...Occupies 470,000 square metres with the possibility of a similarlysized extension. That’s over 50 football fields. ...Will deliver Airbus’ first made-inUSA aircraft to Jet Blue in 2016. ... Will build the A319, A320 and A321 ceo and neo. Today, over 800 A320 Family aircraft are in service
Airbus in the United States: In numbers As recently as the mid-1990s, Airbus delivered just one aircraft per month to North American customers. Then by the early 2000s, that figure had jumped to three per week to customers in the USA and Canada. There have been some notable deliveries in the US market in recent years. Airbus delivered its 1,000th aircraft to a North American
What happens next? Jigs and tools will be selected, received and catalogued by the second quarter 2014. Consumables - such as office supplies and production tools - will be on site by the second quarter 2014. Integral supplies - including aircraft painting, warehouse facilities, engine podding and installation, ground support and fuelling - should be on site and ready for production by the third
with 19 US customers. ...Will directly and indirectly employ over 1,000 skilled workers producing four aircraft per month at full capacity, by 2017. ...Creates work for four European Airbus and seven supply chain employees for each job at the Brookley AeroPlex. ...Doubles the number of companies manufacturing large commercial aircraft in the USA. ...Helps cater to a US market of an estimated 4,600 single-aisle aircraft overthe next 20 years. It’s the world’s largest. customer in 2004. Airbus booked its 5,000th A320 Family order in January 2007, from Floridabased Spirit Airlines. Finally, Airbus took its 10,000th aircraft order in December of 2010, from Virgin America airlines. Major customers for the A320neo and A350 XWB include US-based customers American Airlines, Hawaiian, JetBlue Airways, Republic, Spirit, United, US Airways and Virgin America.
quarter 2014. Sea transport, air freight and ground transportation should be operational by the third quarter 2013, while tooling, nondestructive testing and repair part production should be accessible on site by the third quarter 2014. Site services - including building maintenance, security, catering, expat support, environmental and IT/communication - should be operational by the fourth quarter 2014.
IN THE NEWS A400M Programme
Civil certification leads the way to first delivery Airbus Military received full type certification for the A400M on 14 March from EASA and its military initial operating clearance is now imminent, paving the way towards delivery of the first aircraft - MSN007 to the French Air Force.
As type certification was announced, Airbus Military CEO Domingo Ureña Raso thanked everyone from Airbus Military, Airbus and EASA who had worked towards this achievement. “It is enormously gratifying to have confirmation that the A400M has fully demonstrated its compliance with the most stringent airworthiness standards,” he said. In May 2012, the A400M received a civil restricted type certificate (RTC) from EASA, demonstrating compliance, except for the required 300 hours functional and reliability testing. “By May we realised after detailed analysis we needed to stop flying until EPI had solved issues with the engine,” head of A400M engineering Jose-Luis Lopez-Diez explains. “We paused the final assembly line in order to stabilise the configuration and give the green light to maturity,” adds head of A400M flight tests Eric Isorce. By the autumn, new EPI TP400 engines were installed on MSN006 with Function and Reliability flight tests then restarting in November. By the beginning of December these were complete - in a total of 26 days of flights and five days of maintenance.
Civil certification: the A400M is the first large military transport aircraft in the world to be designed and certified to civil standards from the start.
“This is the most powerful turboprop in production today and we have been breaking new ground,” Eric says. “And the aircraft’s design, with its rigid, composite swept wings and a fixed, largely composite tail has
A400M Certification facts and figures • The aircraft receives its civil type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) • Military certification being awarded by the Certification and Qualification Committee (CQC) an organisation set up to represent the programme’s customer nations • The A400M’s TP400-D6 engine is supplied by EuroPro International (EPI)
also required changes to our modelling.” The flight test team is now testing advanced military functions, such as air-to-air refuelling, airdropping of supplies and paratroopers, and low-level flight. “Over the three years we have progressed a lot,” Eric concludes. “We have had some surprises but taken the time to carefully evaluate, and fine-tune the aircraft to secure future deliveries.” /////.
which is a consortium of the four leading European engine manufacturers • The aircraft’s static test is finished and its fatigue test has already simulated almost its complete lifecycle • Development aircraft have completed some 4,800 hours in the air during over 1,600 flights • Reaching certification represents more than 5,000 documents provided by Airbus Military and then being approved by the regulatory authorities.
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IN THE NEWS Long-range ramp-up
Strong demand takes A330 production to highest ever rate Long-range production entered rate ten in April, the culmination of a nine-year doubling in capacity to honour the 800 orders taken for the type since the launch of the Boeing 787. A330 programme head Patrick Piedrafita tells ONE that the secret of the aircraft family’s rude health lies in its unrivalled efficiency and Airbus’ philosophy of continuous improvement. “We need a robust supply chain” says A330 programme head Patrick Piedrafita.
How a stealthy addition helps deliver rate ten A noticeable change in reaching rate ten is the construction in Toulouse of an additional Station 20, where cabin furnishing and engine mounting take place. Situated just 400 metres from the runway, the new building is innovative, too: it’s Airbus’ first ‘stealthy’ facility, using EADS and Airbus-designed software to minimise electro-magnetic interference with aircraft instrument landing systems. Patrick, what is driving the rate increase?
What is Airbus doing to keep the A330 competitive?
For the A330, reaching rate ten is the conclusion to a long journey. We’re now at the highest wide-body production rate ever reached and the driver is strong demand, especially from Asian and Middle Eastern carriers. Economic growth there naturally stimulates demand for air travel. I’m also convinced there’s a large market for the A330-300 flying medium-haul routes. That is where the aircraft is the perfect complement to the A350 XWB.
Investment in continuous improvement demonstrates our confidence in the aircraft. The challenge is to bring those improvements to market quickly. Take the maximum take-off weight (MTOW) increase to 242 tonnes. We announced it last year; it will be available in 2015. In aviation terms, that’s fast. The A330
Why are A330 sales so strong? Airlines and lessors love the A330 for its great operating economics and proven reliability, which stands at 99.4% for the last 60 aircraft delivered. Our policy of continuous improvement also makes the A330 very attractive, from gradual increases in maximum take-off weight to regular systems and cabin upgrades.
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Airbus’ continued investment in the A330 demonstrates our belief in an aircraft that can continue to be competitive.
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Long-range programme head Patrick Piedrafita
has to be profitable for Airbus and attractively priced for our customers. That’s why we launched the long-range cost optimisation project (LRCOP) to secure competitiveness by keeping fixed costs down.
Are there any further improvements in the pipeline? By offering customers a constant stream of innovation, we increase the A330’s appeal still further. For example as part of the MTOW increase we’re developing an optional wet centre fuel tank to extend range, and other cabin enhancements.
What challenges does rate ten present? The bar is set high - last year we delivered a record 103 long-range aircraft with a customer satisfaction rate of 94%. I’d like to congratulate the A330/A340 community on all its
IN THE NEWS
Lower and lower: The LIFT 2015 initiative aims at cutting FAL lead time significantly by 2015.
A330/A340s were delivered in 2012. That’s a record and over 10% higher than the previous peak efforts to make 2012 a record year. One of the most significant changes for the long-range final assembly line (FAL) was actually when production reached rate 9.5 last year: the fourth station 30 was re-opened on the shopfloor. It will remain in service for rate ten, which also requires some investment in FAL jigs and tools duplication. We have to stabilise our lead time - the time between the arrival of sub-assemblies at the FAL and aircraft delivery. Now we’re at an average of 72 days,
compared to over 100 in the mid-2000s. So we’ll continue to progress, with the help of the Lead time Improvement and FAL Transformation (LIFT) programme (see box). Employee turnover remains a challenge: a significant number of experienced long-range staff have transferred to the A350 XWB. To mitigate any resulting skills gaps new workers have followed an intensive training and qualification path on top of tutoring, thanks to the efforts of Michel Dewerdt’s team.
LIFT 2015 – Doing more with less The Lead time Improvement and FAL Transformation (LIFT) programme is central to stabilising rate ten. By improving processes, long-range FAL head Joseph Brakha and his team aim to drive down lead time to reduce inventory: each day gained is cash saved. As its name suggests LIFT 2015’s ambition is to target 65 days two years from now, from
How are suppliers handling the ramp-up? Rate ten requires a robust supply chain more than anything else. Our suppliers play a key role in stabilising production but they face a challenging situation. They are our partners and it is up to Airbus to ensure they meet the challenge. It’s up to us to anticipate danger. That requires effective risk management, handled by Gérard Zuber’s programme management team. /////.
72 today. One way of gaining time is to begin cabin installation (including, since last November, seating for all nonhead of version A330s) while the ‘green aircraft’ is still in the FAL. This is made possible by the introduction of work stations operating in parallel to conventional systems installation and testing posts. The method drastically reduces cabin furnishing times and has been introduced to the A350 XWB final assembly.
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360° VIEW
Fresh paint: British Airways’ first A380 emerged from Hamburg’s paint hangar on 5 April decorated with the airline’s red, white and blue livery. The Airbus team painted 10,000 black and white dots on the aircraft’s tailfin.
Ambitious growth: Turkish Airlines, the largest airline in Turkey, has signed a contract for up to 117 A320 Family aircraft - the largest ever placed by a Turkish carrier - to support expansion plans.
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National pride: Air Pacific has rolled out its new ‘Fiji Airways’ identity on its first new A330-200. The aircraft’ livery depicts traditional symbols of welcome, caring and connection of the Fijian people to their islands.
One of many: The airberlin group took delivery of its first Sharklet-bearing A320 in late March. The aircraft will be operated by Austria’s NIKI, owned by airberlin. The group has a total of 13 singleaisle aircraft fitted with Sharklets slated for delivery between now and 2015.
360° VIEW
Big in Japan: the delivery of a tenth A320 to Jetstar Japan takes the total number of Airbus aircraft delivered to Japanese carriers to 100. Last year, Airbus delivered 16 A320s to the country, and 2013 will see 28 A320s enter service with four operators.
Largest customer: Lufthansa has placed an order for 100 A320 Family aircraft and two A380s, reconfirming its place as Airbus’ largest customer, with 532 aircraft ordered. Lufthansa is also Airbus’ biggest operator.
Cabin concepts: Visitors to the Aircraft Interiors show in Hamburg crowd around a cutaway model of the A350 XWB to find out what is on offer onboard.
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IN THE NEWS
Airbus Subsidiaries
Tomorrow’s sky today Airbus ProSky, Airbus’ specialist air traffic management (ATM) subsidiary has recently grown, bringing together Metron Aviation, Quovadis and ATRiCS to form a larger Airbus ProSky. Paul-Franck Bijou, the recently appointed CEO of Airbus ProSky answers ONE’s questions. our customers and global aviation stakeholders. This makes it logical for us to have integrated sales, marketing and communications teams, and one product policy organisation. Airbus ProSky is now a 300-person global company.
How is the business doing?
Paul-Franck Bijou, CEO of Airbus ProSky.
How long has Airbus ProSky been an Airbus subsidiary? Since the beginning, Airbus ProSky has been a 100% Airbus subsidiary. It was set up on 1 January 2011, so we recently celebrated our second anniversary.
It was recently reconfigured to include Metron Aviation, Quovadis and ATRiCS - what is the thinking behind that? This is an obvious evolution for us to integrate innovative companies into the process of delivering performance to aviation stakeholders. Metron Aviation is a world leader in air traffic flow management (ATFM) and ATRiCS, too, is very much at the cutting edge of the technology in the surface management (TSMS) field. Also gathering performance based navigation (PBN) activities from Quovadis under the same umbrella gives us a unique proposition with an end-to-end approach to accelerate ATM performance for
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I’m pleased to say that the last three months have been rich in new contracts. Among them, a large ATFM contract with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) initiated at the World ATM Congress in Madrid in February. Additionally, two more contracts that cover countrywide airspace redesign study in the United Arab Emirates and our largest PBN contract so far, although we’re not allowed to disclose the customer’s name yet. Also, what is even more exciting is that there are many more, larger things to come in the short term. This shows that our ATM performance approach is proving successful. The method by which we address our customers is to start from the airlines’ ATM needs and issues, and I must say this has propelled our solutions efficiently. No wonder, in most cases, airlines invest fairly low amounts in these ATM initiatives, and benefit a lot.
How do you see the future? In line with SESAR guidelines, we are looking to grow and bring as much performance improvement as we can across the ATM stakeholders, in order to contribute to mitigating the world’s ATM inefficiencies. These inefficiencies represent around five billion euros every year, a large part on the burden of the airlines. We think that the keyword for this development will be ‘collaborative decision making’, which happens to be the backbone of our offering. We will continue to integrate collaborative decision making into all of our offerings, contracts and services. Bringing the right people, together at the right time, is the best way to deploy, understand and turn these solutions into operational savings quickly and efficiently. /////.
The sky’s the limit Airbus ProSky’s strategic aims fit with the SESAR initiative in Europe and its NextGen counterpart in the US, both of which aim to modernise ATM systems and are looking to utilise existing systems, optimising them on the ground and on board aircraft. Through its companies, Airbus ProSky is innovating in ATM research and development. Its solutions include: • Air traffic flow management (ATFM), or the regulation of air traffic to avoid exceeding airport or air traffic control capacity, and to ensure that available capacity is used efficiently; • Surface management (TSMS), a system designed to help air traffic controllers reduce taxi time, maximise airport capacity and aircraft throughput; • Performance-based navigation (PBN) a technique that allows an aircraft to fly precisely along a predefined route using the latest onboard navigation systems such as GPS; and • Airport-collaborative decision making (A-CDM), a service and solution designed to help airport operators, ground handlers and the air traffic control to work more efficiently and transparently to share data and enhance common situational awareness.
IN THE NEWS
Flight operations services company Quovadis offers performance-based navigation (PBN) services and support to airports, authorities and airlines. Originally designed to guide aircraft around obstacles such as mountainous terrain, PBN is now being used to fly an optimised descent over large cities, reducing fuel consumption, emissions and noise. PBN allows aircraft to fly
precisely along a predefined route using onboard navigation systems (global positioning systems -GPS). It maximises aircraft performance through optimising the instrument procedure without the need for traditional ground aids. PBN is helping aviation reduce congestion and maintain reliable, all weather operations, even at challenging airports. It provides operators with greater flexibility and better operating returns while increasing the safety of regional and national airspace systems.
US-based Metron Aviation specialises in developing and deploying ATFM/CDM solutions, and modelling tools for airspace design and environmental analysis. Founded in 1995, it is very much an ATFM pioneer, having worked with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop the industry’s first collaborative decision making (CDM) platform for optimising system-wide traffic flow. Its ATFM system Harmony means the ANSPs can predict and balance their air traffic capacity of airport networks
against demand through the adjustment of departure times resulting in a reduction of airborne and surface holding at the arriving airport. Harmony is already controlling 51% of the world’s airspace in South Africa, Canada, the US and Australia. In Australia, Harmony’s introduction by the country’s leading ATM services provider Airservices Australia has seen: • Airborne holding into Sydney reduced by approximately 33%; • $6.5M in fuel savings in the first two months in operation in Sydney; • Five minutes on average cut from the flight time between Melbourne and Sydney; and • 40,000 tonnes of potential CO2 savings each year.
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Over five billion euros is the estimated total cost of ATM inefficiencies for Europe alone. (Eurocontrol Performance Review Report 2011)
Based in Germany, terminal surface management expert ATRiCS leads the field in ‘green’ eco-efficient ATM, through its tower surface management system (TSMS), using a tablet display. This intuitive and predictive system computes individual routing for each aircraft between the runway threshold and the gate. One of its innovations is dynamic guidance for pilots from automatically switched taxiway centre line lights ahead of the individual taxi route assigned to each aircraft. This not only reduces taxi time, but also supports safe operations, smoothing overall traffic flow and facilitating a continuous taxi speed. This leads to a direct reduction in taxi time and lower CO2 emissions.
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IN THE NEWS
Airbus in Russia
Presidential birthday greetings The first European engineering office to be established outside Airbus’ founding countries celebrated its tenth anniversary by hosting a visit from the President of France, Francois Hollande. Airbus CEO, Fabrice Bregier accompanied him on his tour of ECAR (Airbus engineering centre Russia).
ECAR in numbers 10 years 70 projects 200 employees 6 programmes
contribute to aircraft developments. In turn, this enables us to offer our international experience to our domestic partners.”
On the A350 XWB, ECAR engineers are involved in design and development
Tenth anniversary: Fabrice Brégier celebrated the opening of Airbus engineering centre in Russia.
“We are delighted that President Hollande chose our company to be part of his first official visit to Russia,” said Fabrice. “ECAR is working for new programmes such as the A320neo and the A350 XWB as well as series programmes and we are happy with the progress we have achieved over the last decade.”
ECAR opened in March 2003 as a joint venture with the Russian industrial group Kaskol. Originally, there were 30 staff but this has grown to 200 with all of the engineers fully integrated into the Airbus design office, thanks to regular training sessions in Toulouse and Hamburg. ECAR also cooperates with local engineering centres and design offices and hence benefits from Russia’s rich aviation tradition which has produced some highly respected educational institutions and many specialist engineers.
So far, ECAR has completed over 70 projects for the A320, A330/A340 and A380 programmes. Specialists perform
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extensive work associated with the design of primary and secondary structure and systems of aircraft, including stress, static, fatigue and damage tolerance testing.
of longitudinal and orbital fuselage panel junctions, the cargo floor and modules for installation of systems and cabin interior. Work on the A320neo’s sharklets is also being carried out at the centre meaning that, as well as celebrating a decade of growth, ECAR is playing an important role in Airbus’ future. /////.
The centre was heavily involved in the development of the A330-200F freighter programme. Engineers performed over 80% of the design work, including construction and calculation of durability of the fuselage, the cargo section of the main deck and system installation. The actual weight of the primary structure was reduced by almost one tonne, allowing an increase in the commercial payload by up to 70 tonnes. Today, 17 A330-200F freighters are in operation with nine carriers.
“I am very positive about the first ten years of our work and look ahead with optimism,” explained ECAR general director, Alexander Kireytsev. “The participation of our engineers in current and future Airbus programmes means that they acquire unique experience, improve their skills and really
Official celebration: President of France François Hollande visited Airbus engineering centre in Russia.
Airbus in the UK
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A350 team leads patent way The A350 Fastening Projects team is protecting its intellectual property.
Matt Davies, front, with Lee Bradbury, John Marshall and Glyn Burrows in the A350 equipping area.
Engineers from the team, led by Matt Davies, have designed eight tools for use in manufacturing the wings and have protected their ideas by patenting them. This means Airbus owns the patent rights for the inventions which can give commercial or strategic advantage over competitors. Matt said he was proud of his team’s achievements and is hoping to raise awareness of the patenting procedure amongst colleagues. “Because A350 is a completely new product, and we’re working at the cutting-edge of technology, we can’t buy everything off the shelf,” said Matt. “Manufacturing engineering is always looking for continuous improvements to increase productivity, reduce costs and drive innovation for new products and processes. “The manufacturing engineers work closely with operators to establish what they need so
that the product specification is exactly right. If their inventions aren’t protected, they can be copied by suppliers or competitors.” A recent example is a grip-gauge used in lightning strike protection bolting. Airbus engineers designed a bespoke gauge that cost just £12 per unit, compared to up to £500 for the commercial alternative. As well as being used in Broughton on the A350 wing, these gauges can now be rolled out for other bolting operations potentially saving the business hundreds of thousands of pounds. Alex Cuthell is Airbus Process Technology Leader (APTL) Delegate and part of his role is to oversee and approve changes to the manufacturing methods. He said: “I shared the gauges with the APTL transnational team, feedback was very positive and there will be multiple future applications. “Every time an employee invents a product, or improves a tool or an existing process, it’s
worth telling the Airbus patent team so that work can be protected.” Anybody who has developed a solution which could be patented, should first fill in an Invention Disclosure Data Sheet (IDDS), available as part of the Airbus Handbook in the portal. This is submitted to the Airbus patent team which reviews the IDDS and decides if it should be taken forward. It is then passed to a Patent Attorney. At this stage, the inventor is asked to sign a disclosure form which gives Airbus rights to the invention. Typically, the patent application is filed first at the UK Intellectual Property Office, with the option retained to seek patent protection for the invention outside of the UK. As an incentive for engineers, Airbus makes a payment to inventors for submission of an IDDS and for the filing of an associated patent application. There is also a further exploitation payment when the patented solution is put to use. /////.
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Airbus in the UK
Towards a quieter future The aviation industry has pledged to reduce its noise emissions by 65% by 2050. Airbus is sponsoring a team of experts who are looking into ways to achieve this target. ONE visited the Airbus Noise Technology Centre to find out more.
Zhonglun Cai with an actuator
Sustainable Aviation (SA), a UK aviation industry alliance of airports, airlines, engine and airframe manufacturers and air traffic managers has revealed its Noise Roadmap. This is a plan for managing aircraft noise between now and 2050 using collaboration and strategic planning to minimise noise pollution around the world’s airports. Airbus is part of SA and is committed to designing and building the quietest aircraft it can. The A380 won a Noise Abatement Society award in 2012 but Airbus hasn’t stopped there and continuous improvement is key to keeping its products firmly at the cutting edge of technology and research.
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That’s where the University of Southampton’s Airbus Noise Technology Centre (ANTC) comes in. The ANTC is the UK’s primary research centre on aircraft noise technology. Established by Airbus in January 2008, its mission is to help Airbus to combat the environmental issue of aircraft noise by identifying quiet solutions for future airliners. The Centre develops methods and technologies to reduce the noise generated by airliners both inside and outside the cabin. Its immediate goal is to work towards the target set for the airline industry by the Advisory Council for Aeronautical Research in Europe to reduce perceived noise by 50% by 2020 and eliminate all noise nuisance outside airport boundaries. It also corroborates data provided
to Airbus by suppliers of engines, nacelles and other major components. Airbus Professor of Aircraft Engineering Xin Zhang leads a 20 plus team of research fellows, postgraduate and engineering students at the ANTC. They are committed to developing new ways to reduce aircraft noise using computer simulations and wind tunnel testing. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement for academia and business. Airbus has access to world-leading research expertise and a pool of some of the most talented and enthusiastic students in the field. The University has guaranteed relatively stable, long-term research support. The industry links also help attract the most able students to pursue research degrees. /////.
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... continued
Dr Oksana Stalnov in the wind tunnel.
The issues surrounding aircraft noise have changed in the past years. A single jet liner taking off in the 1960s made as much noise as 33 jetliners today. Most of the reduction comes from new, improved powerplants. At the same time the number of combined air traffic movements has significantly increased. The issue is further complicated by people’s perception of noise and there are multiple other variables, such as wind levels, water on the runway, and so on. A major challenge for Airbus now is to reduce airframe noise, predominantly from the high-lift devices and landing gears. The ANTC team is also looking at the new turbofan and contrarotating open rotor engines, to provide noise predication. A key part of the work is identifying precisely what causes noise and how noise levels are affected by different conditions. Once this has been established, the team can investigate ways to manage and reduce noise means.
Aeroacoustics Research fellow Zhonglun Cai is working on the field of flow control and aeroacoustics, using advanced plasma flow control actuators to control the flow-field that creates flowinduced noise. Although this technology is still years from being ready for use on an actual aircraft, it is producing good results with many
Professor Xin Zhang. potential applications in aviation. Other students are working on high-fidelity simulations of complex flow around aircraft components, and investigations into the best ways to model the noise produced by turbofan engines and contra-rotating rotors. Professor Zhang said that the Centre’s work will also benefit the wider communities of people who live close to airports and whose lives are affected by noise and other forms of pollution.
Progress “It will be years before we can apply some of the technologies we are developing, but progress is significant,” he said. “We are currently developing a whole aircraft model that can be modified with different wing designs, for example. This will give us a footprint of the noise on the ground when the aircraft is moving.” The professor said he would like future work to look at noise pollution in conjunction with toxic emissions. In this way, more efficient but noisier engines can be more realistically compared with quieter engines that produce more emissions. Reducing engine source noise sometimes drives weight increase and therefore additional fuel burn and emissions so the trade-offs and unintended consequences must be
considered to give a fuller picture. “If the community has access to the information, they are empowered to help make decisions that will affect them,” said Professor Zhang.
Community Airbus Environmental Affairs UK Stakeholder Manager Keith Bushell said: “We still need to do more research in order to understand in more detail the specific weighting and interrelationships each of the variables has on the final result. “Also the nature of the noise problem can often change over time, or as a result of attempts to reduce its impact. For example, noise from departing aircraft was at one time the key area of concern among communities. Technology solutions were developed to reduce noise on departure, but this then highlighted the relative impact of arrival noise. The reduction of the source noise of aircraft engines created a new focus on airframe noise. “Because of the specific nature of noise, the SA Noise Roadmap aims to define future scenarios where best practice approaches can be used to limit and where possible reduce the number of people exposed to aircraft noise. “Airbus is striving to continue to reduce all our environmental impacts, and reducing noise is a very important part of this work.” /////.
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A400M implements photogrammetry A new measuring method called photogrammetry is being used in Filton for the first time on the latest A400M wing to come out of jig.
James Vincent, front with, from left, Simon Roberts, Mike Toutt, Scott Seward, Matt Grute, Rich Sloman, James McFarland and Dan Seward.
The system uses photographic images to measure and record highly accurate 3D positions of targets strategically placed on the root end and leading edge of the wing. The resulting high definition images are loaded into bespoke software to calculate the required measurements down to a few microns. The Filton A400M Operations team can then deliver this information to the Final Assembly Line (FAL) team in Seville, confirming that the root end and wing twist of the wing is correct to design intent. Wingset MSN016, the first for an RAF aircraft, is the first A400M wingset to be measured this way, rather than with the traditional laser tracker methods. The new system has been brought into service by Project Manager James Vincent, Manufacturing Engineer Matt Grute and Metrology Specialist Mike Toutt. “There was the opportunity to improve the metrology method, to reduce the build hours,
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cycle time and overall cost to the business. Photogrammetry helps to enable production with the increasing rate requirements,” James explained. “Photogrammetry is based on complex mathematics, using 3D co-ordinates and algorithms to work out the exact measurements of the required components. In this case, the targets are loaded onto known locations of the wing using bespoke equipment to A400M, by skilled metrology operators. Images are then captured using the photogrammetry camera and uploaded to the software. “This has drastically improved the time taken to measure root end and wing twist, backed up by the bespoke scripting software.” Photogrammetry is already used by the Broughton A320 family team and has been used by different Airbus teams in Europe for one-off projects. Matt said: “This is a technology-driven innovation, but the key to its success has been
developing it with a multi-functional team with extensive understanding of both metrology and manufacturing processes.” James and Matt paid credit to the suppliers, Solve Metrology, who have worked tirelessly to come up with the best possible solution for A400M and to the on-going commitment and efforts of the multifunctional team, who have helped deliver the new process into service. Simon Roberts Head of Performance and Improvement Filton Plant said: “This year sees A400M programme ramp-up more aggressively. All opportunities for optimisation are being exploited. The investment and deployment of this technology underpins the desire to eliminate build hours and reducing critical path activities. “The entire team has shown what can be achieved when faced with a complex problem, drawing on individual experience and knowledge to develop an innovative solution.” /////.
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First NEO metal cut The first cut has been made on the first stringer for the NEO variant aircraft.
From left: Andrius Zapasnikas and Norman White from CAV with Phil Siggins and Muhammad Aamer from Airbus next to a cutting machine.
From left, Work Package manager Chris Cooper, Manufacturing engineer Phil Siggins, John Perks from the Procurement team, all Airbus, CAV Engineering manager Norman White, Airbus Engineering Group leader Muhammad Aamer, and Alan Buchanan from CAV.
A team at CAV Aerospace in County Durham has started to machine the first four aluminium alloy top stringers for the A320neo aircraft. These stringers vary in length from 1.2 metres to 6.4 metres. Airbus representatives were on hand to help celebrate the start of work on major component manufacture for the programme. Muhammad Aamer, Engineering Group Leader for Airbus is responsible for ensuring
the parts coming from the supply chain are manufactured to the design requirements. “All the stringers for the NEO variant have been redesigned,” said Muhammad. “NEO is the fastest selling commercial aircraft ever. The programme could not be more significant so getting the right components delivered on time is vital to the future success of Airbus. It is one of our top business priorities at present.” Alan Buchanan is leading the NEO stringer team at CAV Aerospace. He and 12
colleagues have been working on the programme full-time for four months. They are continuing to manufacture stringers for series aircraft, including the current Sharklet variant and will manage the move over to NEO. “As the Single Aisle family programme has evolved into NEO, we’ve enjoyed working closely with our colleagues in Airbus to support its progress,” said Alan. “The changes to the stringers for NEO are quite subtle but mean we have had to reprogramme the machines for each one.”
CAV Aerospace has been manufacturing and supplying Single Aisle family wing stringers to Airbus for more than a decade. /////.
Safer route from Flowline to Paint Shop Employees at Broughton have designed and implemented improvements to make the site safer when moving wings at night. They have modified the route used to transport wings between the Flowline trades entrance and the Paint Shop during the night shift.
Richard Hymes (front right), Geraint Hughes and colleagues demonstrate improved safety features.
Operators identified a safety risk when using the wing transporter at night because of the narrow width of the road, poor visibility and the lack of a safety fence on the wall. With the help of the Flowline Management team and Safety Representatives, the road has now been widened and new, low level lighting is in place along the route.
A safety fence has also been installed on top of the wall to prevent anyone from falling. Grids have been removed to enable the transporter to move more efficiently. Single Aisle Flowline Aircraft Electrician and Safety Representative Richard Hymes said: “This work goes to show how small changes can make a big difference in preventing accidents and improving the working environment for everyone. “The whole team has worked together on this project, and the improvements are significant.” /////.
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/// In Brief ///
Flying high at Chester Zoo Airbus teamed up with Chester Zoo to show students what can be learned about flight from the natural world.
Six-legged achievement Filton employees Andy Duff, Lloyd Goodband, Rob Venn, Prabakaran Moorthy and Lucky Imarhiagbe walked 2km with their ankles tied together, to raise £590 for Comic Relief.
Paula steps out for charity Paula Prijs is in training for a four-day, 160 kilometre walk that takes place in Nijmegen, Holland in July to raise money for breast cancer research. To support her, please visit: www.walkthewalkfundraising.org/ paulina_prijs_9
From left: Airbus DEG Chris Charalampo with Emma Bartlett, Lucy Tilston and Charlotte Johnston from St David’s High School and Steve Williams from Chester Zoo in the aviary. Pupils from Upton-By-Chester High The following day they visited Airbus in School, Chester, Whitby High School, Broughton where they were given some Ellesmere Port and St David’s High guidance on man-made flight from graduates School, Saltney, took part in the two- working at the plant. The event culminated with Airbus apprentices helping pupils put theory day Theory of Flight event. into practice by building their own gliders. The aim was to develop and stimulate an Nigel Skilling from Upton-By-Chester High interest in the STEM subjects of Science, School said: “Our pupils had an excellent opportunity to learn the importance and Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. On the first day, the young people toured the relevance of the natural world and how it can aviaries and participated in interactive sessions influence the development of aircraft. They are with Andrew Owen, Curator of Birds at Chester in a crucial year, deciding which options to take Zoo, to learn about a variety of bird feathers – events like today may encourage them to consider careers in engineering.” /////. and wings.
Matt is new site chaplain Matt Albury is the new workplace chaplain at Filton.
Funky fashion for charity Employees at Filton raised more than £1,200 for Charity Challenge partner charity the Alzheimer’s Society by wearing weird and wacky outfits to work.
Originally from West Wales, Matt joined the army as a gunner before going on to study Civil Engineering at university. After that, he worked in the construction industry for some years before becoming a Christian and moving into the voluntary sector. He worked in drug rehabilitation, addiction and homelessness services, before
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becoming the centre manager of a Salvation Army residential hostel and has worked with people in different situations from many different walks of life. “People can come and talk to me about anything, off the record,” said Matt. “Sometimes, if it’s a work issue, people don’t want to go directly to Human Resources or a manager. It doesn’t have to be about work though. I may also be able to signpost other services they can access. Matt will usually be on site Tuesday mornings, from 9am to noon and Thursday afternoons from 2pm to 4.30pm, but he is available at other times. Look out for him on site, follow him on Facebook Chaplain Matt or Twitter @ISR_matt, email:
[email protected] or call: 07758 313242. /////.
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Airbus leaders support communities Airbus executives in the UK are getting involved with the wider communities as part of a new Airbus leadership programme called the Art of Leadership. Fabrice Bregier, Chief Executive Officer of Airbus, launched the programme to ensure everybody would engage in building the new organisation with the right mindset and behaviours. The programme accompanied the introduction of the renewed EADS leadership model and came as an opportunity to combine great team spirit, self-reflection on strengths and personal contribution, inspirational leadership, focus on supportive behaviours... elements which set fertile ground for strong engagement. Employee Engagement Manager Jacqui Tanner said: “Great leaders inspire people to do things the right way, give energy to their teams, build team spirit and deliver what they promise. This leads to employees who feel valued and recognised, who have the opportunities they need to develop. They are likely to be happier, more productive and more innovative. From a business point of view, this improves profitability and gives us a competitive edge.” One of the four modules in the programme involves leaders taking part in ‘speed dating’ events in which they team up with charities and enterprises which need support or advice. Initiatives to have benefited so far include: • Head of Engineering Plant, Broughton, Roy Scott proof read and commented on presentations prepared by the Leukemia and Lymphoma research charity. • Mark Stewart, General Manager and Human Resources Director has worked with the Knowle West Media Centre, the Southern
Behrooz Barzegar, kneeling, with members of the “A Clean Sweep” cooperative and Airbus employees who have been helping with the website project. Brooks Community Partnership and the Chase and Kings Forest Community Project. • Head of A350 Airframe Development Architects Phil Hamblin is helping a charity that works with prisoners, supporting CV writing and preparing them for job interviews following their release from prison. • Head of Public Affairs Home Countries Katherine Bennett is supporting BRACE, an Alzheimer charity based at Bristol’s Frenchay Hospital. • A380 Chief Engineer UK John Roberts is working with the fundraisers from the charity ERIC to improve their fundraising activities and build a long-term strategy. Roy Scott said: “It
is important to demonstrate leadership in all forms, and this dedication to the community in way of charity support is a tangible way of doing this – and rewarding too!” Head of Flight Physics Behrooz Barzegar said: “I met an organisation called A Clean Sweep – a cleaning co-operative set up and run by people with learning difficulties. “I’m designing and setting up a website for them with the help of some of the young engineers who work with me.” Behrooz has also arranged to give presentations, including talking about engineering opportunities within Airbus, at the school where his children were educated. /////.
Women’s network puts mentoring in spotlight A workshop was organised by the Airbus women’s netWork to clarify the mentoring process and help employees build contacts. The workshop explained the differences between official and unofficial mentoring, and gave attendees a clear understanding of the benefits and responsibilities of both parties. Skill Leader Trudie Savage, who has been both a mentor and a mentee, discussed her
experiences and talked about what she had gained from both sides of the process. Trudie is now mentoring Lean Specialist Lucinda Dancer. Alessandra Badino explained that the network is a group of motivated Airbus women who are involved in initiatives that benefit all employees at all levels. For more information contact Alessandra on: 0117 9363432 or email:
[email protected] /////.
Trudie Savage, left, with mentee Lucinda Dancer.
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A proud family tradition Jodie Shields is the third generation of her family to work in aviation at Filton.
John and Jodie with the Concorde champagne
Alec Symon, centre at Buckingham Palace after being awarded the OBE for services to the aircraft industry. Annie and John’s brother Roger are on the left, Jen and John on the right.
Jodie is the daughter of John Symon and granddaughter of Alec Symon and his wife Annie (nee Box) all of whom worked on the site. Alec’s brother George, was also an employee and Jodie’s brothers Witney and Fraser were both employed by Airbus. John is currently a Manufacturing Engineer for the Triumph Group, working as a contractor for Airbus after spending 40 years as a core employee. Jodie is PA to Mark Haisman and has been with the company for 24 years. Annie started working for the Bristol Aeroplane Company as a tracer in 1917. She met Alec when he joined BAC in 1919. He served under Captain Frank Barnwell until 1935 when he became senior draughtsman in charge of engineering design.
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In 1943, he was appointed assistant chief designer and was responsible for the engineering design of the Bombay, Blenheim, Bolingbroke, Beaufort, Beaufighter, Buckingham, Freighter and the later stages of the design of both the Brabazon and the Britannia. In 1956 he was promoted to sales engineering manager. John joined the Bristol Airplane Company in 1954 and worked his way up through the ranks to principal production engineer in 1970. He organised the Concorde build programme. Jodie was born a month before Concorde made its first flight and John still has the commemorative bottle of champagne. After more than a decade working on Concorde, John became chief production engineer in charge of all planning activities for the 146, A310, Tornado and F111. In 1989, he
was appointed chief manufacturing engineer of the Airbus division of British Aerospace and three years later went to America to develop a US supplier base for Airbus Manufacturing Engineering. In his current role, he is working with Airbus engineers throughout Europe on the A320 retrofit modifications for the Sharklet programme. Jodie never knew her grandfather who died in 1969 two months before he was due to retire after 50 years service. She came to Filton when she was 20. “Everyone knew Dad’s name and people say we’re so much alike we’re like a pair of bookends,” she said. “Dad lives and breathes aircraft. He is not one to talk about his achievements, but the whole family is very proud of him and my grandfather.” It is difficult for John to pick out a single individual moment as a career highlight. “Since 1959, I’ve worked on every single aircraft that’s been built here,” he said. While working in America, he was asked to look for historic aircraft components which had been abandoned outside Los Angeles and tracked down a World War II Bristol Bolingbroke – one of the aircraft designed by his father. The aircraft was brought back to Bristol and is currently being restored by the Bristol Aero Collection. Head of Landing Gear and Vice President Engineering Neil Scott said: “When we talk about the great heritage of Aerospace at Filton, we usually refer to the great aircraft designed and built here. However, in one family we have the real spirit of our heritage people who made their mark at Filton. “John is a man who inspired many of us with his great aircraft knowledge as well as being a true gentleman.” /////.
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Buddy scheme booming More than 120 Airbus volunteers give up at least one hour a week to help primary school children with numeracy and literacy.
/// In Brief ///
Tapping into Water Week Adrian Davey, second right, is pictured receiving a water butt as his prize for winning a water awareness quiz during Water Awareness Week. A range of events took place at both sites. With Adrian are from left, Nicola Berry, Gary Crisp and Kathryn Archer from the environment team.
Liz Cole with Chloe at Little Mead Academy, Southmead.
This year, Airbus won six awards for its volunteering work in local schools. Bristol education charity Ablaze named Airbus its Business of the Year 2012 and Direct Entry Graduate (DEG) Liz Cole was named Business Champion of the Year. A third award went to the team that gives “outstanding support” to Henbury Court Primary and individual awards were presented to Inaki Azpiazu-Pelaez, Tania Cresswell and Jim Lott for their exceptional contribution as volunteers during 2012. Thanks to the Ablaze scheme, more than 1,400 students in the Bristol area now benefit from one-to-one support from volunteers who regularly visit classrooms as reading buddies, number partners and mentors. More than 120 of these volunteers are from Airbus. This month Liz handed over her ‘Champion’ baton to DEGs Alex Steel and Núria Nardi-DeDios who will be at the helm for the coming year. Static Stress Engineer Boonseng Soh has been involved for a year, acting as a number partner on Tuesdays and a reading buddy on Wednesdays.
“It’s the highlight of my week,” he said. “I get on really well with the kids and we all find we enjoy it as much as they do. A similar scheme called Right to Read has just been launched at Broughton. Watch this space for the full story coming soon.
Anybody who would like to get involved should contact:
[email protected] or
[email protected]. /////.
Mini orchard for school Airbus employee Phil Norgrove won a mini orchard for St Peter’s Primary School in Rossett where his daughters Chelsea and Katie are pupils. It was part of an educational biodiviersity initiative in partnership with North Wales Wildlife Trust. Also pictured is Phil’s son Harry.
Vince Cable visits Broughton
Mary Prior, Lord Lieutenant of Bristol, third left, and the Lord Mayor of Bristol Cllr Peter Main, centre with, from left, Mary Palmer, Heather Cuerden, Tania Cresswell, Liz Cole, Jim Lott, Alexander Steel, Inaki Azpiazu-Pelaez and Nuria Nardi-Di-Dios.
The Secretary of State for Business, Rt. Hon Dr Vince Cable toured the A380 West Factory, meeting with Airbus apprentices, pictured, graduates and Trade Union representatives. He praised the work taking place at the site and its value to the region.
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Airbus apprentices are officially the best! Airbus apprentices took all three top awards in the prestigious Skills Competition Wales for aeronautical engineering. what to expect from the competition but the fact that Airbus chose me to take part gave me confidence. The previous site managers both started as apprentices which shows how far you can go.” Backed by the Welsh Government and the European Social Fund, the annual Skills Competition Wales events are designed to showcase excellence in vocational learning and promote the importance of developing a highly skilled workforce. The Aeronautical Engineering competition final was hosted by Deeside College in Connah’s Quay, Flintshire. Ryan may have the chance to progress to WorldSkills UK finals and the international event at Rio de Janeiro in 2015.
From left: Daniel, Tom and Ryan with their awards.
Ryan Taylor was named the best Aeronautical Engineering student in Wales and won the gold award, Tom Williams took silver and Daniel ScholesLawrence was awarded bronze. The talented trio beat hundreds of other entrants, establishing themselves among the
country’s best newcomers to the aerospace industry. Gary Griffiths, Head of Apprenticeships, said: “I am very proud of the performance of all our apprentices and these results very clearly reflect the quality of our apprenticeship programmes.” Ryan said: “I’m the third generation of my family to have worked for Airbus. I had no idea
Jeff Cuthbert, Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, said: “These competitions are an excellent opportunity for up-and-coming skilled workers in Wales to stretch themselves and really develop their abilities within their chosen fields.” /////.
RAEs endorses apprenticeships Airbus has teamed up with the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) to give UK apprentices the opportunity to obtain a professional registration. The RAeS is licensed to accredit aeronautical engineering schemes on behalf of The Engineering Council. Holders of the professional registration will have demonstrated competence, commitment, skills and experience developed during their careers. Craft apprentices with Airbus in the UK will be eligible to apply for Engineering Technician level, while Higher and Undergraduate apprentices will be able to apply for Incorporated Engineer status, followed by a Chartered Engineer grade further in their careers. Tom Williams, Executive Vice President, Programmes, and senior UK representative for Airbus, said: “Our apprentices will now have global professional recognition which
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demonstrates our commitment to promoting the highest possible standards amongst our engineers.” Glyn Berrington MRAeS, Chairman of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Accreditation Committee, said: “During the accreditation process, we were particularly impressed with the calibre and motivation of the supervisory staff as well as the quality, enthusiasm and maturity of the apprentices.” Sarah Sillars OBE, chief executive of sector skills council Semta, said: “As a member of Semta’s Apprentice Employer Leadership Group, Airbus contributes significantly to the development of apprenticeships that focus on delivering the business needs of the sector and in ensuring trainees can fulfill their career aspirations through a winning blend of study and ‘on the job’ learning.” /////.
Left to right: Tom Williams, Hal Willis, 1st Year Apprentice of the Year Filton, Rhian Perrin, Apprentice of the Year for Broughton 2012 and Simon Luxmoore, Chief Executive of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
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Chris is picture perfect Chris Byrne’s wonderful aviation pictures have featured regularly on One Online.
A stunning photograph of the F18 Super Hornet at RIAT 2012
The Industrial Engineer, currently working with the A400M wing team in Filton, has been passionate about aircraft and photography since he was a child. He has travelled round the world, sometimes going to extreme lengths to get the perfect picture of an aircraft. The main picture you see here was taken at the 2012 Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford near Swindon. Chris used a Nikon D800 camera with a 200400 Nikon zoom lens. “I’ve been taking pictures of aircraft since I was 10,” said Chris. “I used to develop my own pictures on rolls of film.
“A friend of the family served in the RAF and used to fly Meteor jets over our house in Chester I think that’s what started the interest!” Photography and aircraft have taken Chris to places as diverse as Moscow and Australia, he has taken air-to-air pictures and even wingwalked. Last year, he went with two friends to the Swiss Airforce live fire exercise at Axalp near Interlaken. He got up at 4am and walked through dreadful weather conditions 7,000 feet up a mountain carrying some 15kg of equipment to reach the perfect vantage point.
To see more of Chris’s pictures, visit flickr.com and search for sunrisephotography. /////.
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Dementia: A personal view National Dementia Awareness Week takes place from 19th to 25th May. Alan McGregor explains why awareness is so important.
“When I found out that the new Charity Challenge partner charity was the Alzheimer’s Society I was determined to do as much as I could to help,” said Alan. “The disease has had a huge impact on my family. My mum, Sheila, was diagnosed with dementia in 2002 at the age of 54.” The first signs that something were wrong seemed insignificant but Alan took his mother, who lived alone, to the GP. He diagnosed depression. However a friend of Alan’s who was doing research into Alzheimer’s had her own concerns. Alan read everything he could about the disease. He noticed unusual aspects of his mother’s behaviour that he had not seen before. His friend helped him obtain a referral to an Alzheimer’s specialist. “It was a hard day,” said Alan. “Mum didn’t want to go, she kept saying: ‘I’m not daft.’ She was upset and angry. “When the specialist said she was in the early stages of dementia, I was shocked and frightened but not completely surprised. The specialist said he would rather be at the receiving end of her frustration and have the right diagnosis so that we could put a care package in place.” Unfortunately Sheila’s condition deteriorated rapidly. Alan found himself taking more time off work to care for her and her social worker advised him to start looking for a specialist
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home where she could receive round-theclock attention. During this difficult period, Alan said it was a huge relief to be able to talk to experts from the Alzheimer’s Society and local charities specialising in dementia. “There are so many things that can become major worries, such as paying for care,” he said. “When she went into the home in 2005 she was the youngest person there.” Sheila’s condition has continued to get worse. She is 65 now and no longer recognises her son. Alan said: “I visit with my wife Jane, who has been amazing, and my twin daughters, Poppy and Ava. She smiles at the girls, but she doesn’t speak any more. “People think dementia is something that only affects old people, but it doesn’t discriminate. My friend who’s doing the research says they are coming on in leaps and bounds in terms of understanding the disease, slowing down its progress and improving the medication but there’s still a long way to go.” To raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society, Alan will be doing a tandem Skydive. Please visit: http://www.justgiving.com/alanmcgregor-leap-of-faith to support him, or contact your Charity Challenge Co-ordinator to get involved in other ways.
National Dementia Awareness Week takes place from 19th to 25th May. Watch out for a range of events around both UK sites. /////.
Dementia:
what to look for
• Struggling to remember recent events or people’s names. • Finding it hard to follow conversations or TV programmes. • Repeating yourself or losing the thread of what you’re saying. • Difficulty concentrating, thinking things through or following instructions. • Feeling confused even when in a well-known place. • Becoming unusually anxious, depressed or agitated. If you’re worried that you, or someone close to you may have dementia, it’s important to talk to your family and friends, to your GP and/or to the Alzheimer’s Society.
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Learning from the past
A greener engine alternative Contra-rotating open rotor (CROR) engines have been around since the 1940s. For civil aviation, as long as oil prices remained relatively low and open rotors very noisy, they stayed on the shelf. However, the drive to reduce air transport’s carbon footprint for the future has led engineers to reignite a decades-old project, as ONE found out.
Tunnel test: CROR’s acoustic profile is being studied in detail for the first time.
CROR engines use two sets of propellers, one behind the other, each spinning in a different direction. Their winning feature is fuel efficiency. An open rotor-powered singleaisle aircraft can consume up to 35% less fuel than an A320 driven by conventional turbofans. Even compared to the high-bypass turbofans under study for clean-sheet aircraft designs, CROR can present a 10% fuel burn saving. The oil crises of the 1970s saw a boom in CROR research, as the business case for their adoption was more attractive. But when oil prices sank during the 1990s, interest waned and for Airbus and its partner companies, open rotors never got beyond the wind tunnel. In 2008, with fuel costs spiking again, Airbus picked up the technology to consider its eventual integration in future programmes. This time, some of the ongoing research falls under the European Union’s Clean Sky initiative, which counts among its goals the reduction of aviation’s environmental impact through the introduction of disruptive technologies.
In particular, two wind tunnel campaigns held over the last year have helped advance
the engine’s aerodynamic and acoustic design. The contra-rotating blades can be noisy if not properly designed; perfecting that design is a major challenge in developing CROR as an ultra-efficient engine option for future programmes. “Airbus’ CROR acoustic targets are very aggressive,” explains head of wind testing Gérard Icart. “Noise regulation is ever more stringent, so we want to be sure we meet and exceed it with candidate open rotors.” As CROR engines are most often rearmounted to keep the noise they generate as far away from the cabin as possible, their acoustic impact on the rear fuselage requires study. “The tunnel helps get a better understanding of open rotor acoustics but it also helps us to develop the tools that one day will be used in the development of a new aircraft,” adds Damien Prat, head of the open rotor technology platform. “We’re at the forefront of innovation.”
The propeller blades on the one-seventh scale wind tunnel test rig were designed by Airbus, but Rolls-Royce and Snecma were invited to participate in the campaign too, allowing Airbus to compare their efforts. “Nobody has used wind testing to investigate CROR acoustics with such advanced measurement techniques,” notes wind tunnel expert Ian Price. “It’s something we’re proud of.” Indeed: the design team won a corporate Award for Excellence last year. “The combination of new design and modern test means has boosted open rotor’s chance of reaching noise targets,” Ian says. “That significantly reduces the biggest obstacle to its commercial development.”
The campaign is now moving into ‘high-speed’ mode: examining larger-scale open rotor demonstrators at simulated cruise speeds, as opposed to the take-off and landing modes of the earlier tests. The team’s ultimate goal, though, is in-flight demonstration of a new-generation CROR engine in partner-
Airbus is supporting the development of a new material called graphene that could have a range of aeronautical applications in the future. Graphene is a carbon substance similar to graphite, most commonly used as the ‘lead’ in pencils. However, by re-arranging the molecules scientists have produced an extremely hard and durable material that has strength close to that of diamonds. All of this at a fraction of the cost of the naturally occurring extreme form of carbon. So far, graphene has only been produced in laboratory quantities but now it has been selected as one of the European Union’s Future Emerging Technology (FET) Flagships which means that unprecedented levels of funding will be available to develop it over the next decade. A team of over 120 academic and industrial research groups, including Airbus and co-ordinated by Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, will be exploring potential uses and working towards producing graphene in industrial quantities. Potential applications of graphene on aircraft include: • Lightning strike protection and electronic system installation. • Improvement of composite structure behaviour against impact threat. • Elimination of, or decrease in, water absorption. • Fire, smoke and toxicity resistance in areas such as cabins. • Advanced part surfaces which would be wear resistant and easy to clean. • Smart materials such as self-sensing composites and paints.
Airbus’ open rotor demonstrator underwent 240 hours of wind tunnel testing as part of its acoustic campaign. ship with Safran, once an optimal propeller blade has been selected. That flight is expected in 2019; all the while, open rotors are nearing operational reality. /////.
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A new customer
Lion Air targets Indonesia’s massive growth potential This was, the press decreed, one of the largest orders for commercial jets ever placed. And the setting for its announcement was suitably grand. When French President François Hollande welcomed Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier and Lion Air CoFounder and CEO Rusdi Kirana to the Elysée Palace on 18 March, he described the freshly-signed 234-aircraft contract as “an example for our economy.” Lion Air may be new to Airbus but the Indonesian carrier’s appetite for the A320 Family makes it the type’s fifth-largest customer overnight. That’s all the more remarkable when you know that Mr Kirana and his brother started Indonesia’s largest domestic airline with just one jet 13 years ago. In a rare interview, Lion Air’s CEO tells ONE how sustained growth makes the world’s fourth most populous nation a sure bet for aviation.
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Expanding Lion Air’s network is an investment in Indonesia.
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Rusdi Kirana, Lion Air Co-Founder and CEO
What’s your strategy for growth?
Mr Kirana, what do you like most about the Airbus A320 Family? Its combination of passenger comfort, thanks to a wide fuselage; and proven operating efficiency.
How do you see air transport evolving in Indonesia and Southeast Asia? Asia’s economy is growing faster than people expected, and Indonesia leads the way. Ours is a nation of islands; air travel is the best way to connect them. The population of my country is 240 million and today, only 10-15% of people fly. Now, with GDP growth second only to China it’s clear that more and more Indonesians will be able to afford air travel.
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Lion Air CEO Rusdi Kirana. Passenger numbers have grown 20% every year for the last ten years; if that trend continues we are looking at a domestic market of some 200 million passengers by 2023. Beyond Indonesia, the ASEAN open skies agreement is a big incentive for carriers and there’s a regional market to capture of around one billion people flying for the first time. So an order for 234 Airbus aircraft sounds impressive but when you look at those numbers, even Lion Air’s combined fleet of some 700 aircraft probably isn’t big enough to handle our share of demand in Southeast Asia over the next decade. That’s why we hope to expand to at least 1,000 jets in the next two to three years.
We have a strong foothold in Indonesia, there’s big growth potential, so that’s where our focus will remain for now. Also, expanding our domestic network can only be good for the country: it creates jobs and brings people together. I consider it an investment in Indonesia. Our subsidiary Malindo Air has just launched flights to Malaysia and eventually we will go international with routes to India and China, for example. But I’m not interested in being the biggest airline or having the largest fleet. For me being a CEO is about doing my best for the business and our 18,000 workers.
You have a very innovative approach to employee engagement... We have a duty to help our staff meet their basic needs - a roof over their head, or education for their children. We’re putting the finishing touches to ‘Lion Air village’, a 60-acre housing development for our employees that includes a school and a clinic, and a training centre, all within a stone’s throw of our headquarters in Jakarta. The idea is to decrease the cost of coming to work for our employees and to help the work-life balance: Lion Air village
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provides healthcare, childcare and schooling and also a relief from Jakarta’s infamous traffic jams! Improvements in quality of life make happier workers, so it’s a win-win situation.
around the corner. I’ve learnt that the best way to face this is not to worry about what will happen tomorrow, but to be as strong as you can today.
Analysts are united in their upbeat forecasts for air traffic in Southeast Asia. Do you share that optimism?
How can Airbus help you reach your goals?
Absolutely, for the reasons we discussed earlier; but in this business you have to expect the unexpected. There’s always something
I expect support in training, operations and maintenance. We need your advice and experience to show us how to operate our new Airbus fleet as efficiently as possible.
Big deal: Watched by French President François Hollande, the two CEOs shake hands on Airbus’ largest ever order.
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Warm welcome: Airbus employees gathered around a specially painted A321 to greet Lion Air’s CEO in Toulouse.
This is a historic order that provides many years’ work for Airbus production employees. Do you have a message for them? I put a strong emphasis on our relationship. With a good relationship we can overcome any problems. When we landed in Toulouse after the signature, I was struck by the welcome I received from the Airbus employees who were waiting to greet me. I could see how excited and proud they were. That creates a great impression. /////.
people are housed in ‘Lion Air village’ near Jakarta airport, including employees and their families.
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Market focus on China
The middle class takes off In a country of over one billion people, the emerging middle classes probably equate to the entire population of the four European Airbus nations. And they aspire to fly. To get them off the ground, Airbus reckons the country will need around 4,000 new aircraft in the next 20 years. In this market profile, Airbus China president Eric Chen tells ONE why Airbus is wellplaced to earn its share of the pie.
Eric, what are Airbus’ strengths in China? We have a highly motivated professional team in China. Airbus provides our Chinese customers with comprehensive aircraft families that can satisfy their requirements in every segment. We have invested in building excellent customer relationships forward-looking, long-term relationships based on the win-win principle and mutual trust. Another strength is our cooperation with Chinese aviation, from materials procurement to government-backed joint ventures that include the final assembly line in Tianjin. Airbus executives regularly brief Chinese officials on the latest developments and best practices of the European aviation industry. Airbus’ expanding Chinese fleet around 890 aircraft are in service today -
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A step ahead: “Once you are competitive, you are not afraid of competition,” says Airbus China president Eric Chen. and cooperation with our partners in the country have made us a household name. Fortune magazine has twice named Airbus China’s most valued brand and China Central Television has lauded us as the People’s Republic’s most well-known multinational company.
What have been the major changes in the Chinese market over the last 20 years? It might sound immodest, but the biggest change is the rise of Airbus in Chinese commercial aviation! We have broken our competitor’s monopoly, growing from a niche
player with a 6% share to now holding half of the market. Despite coming to China 13 years after Boeing, we are steadily moving to the leadership position. The fast development of Chinese aviation market is another big change. Finally, air traffic here is highly concentrated around ‘megacities’ such as
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We should not underestimate the competition in China. If we rest on our laurels, we will be left behind.
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Eric Chen, president of Airbus China.
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Furious growth: Chinese aviation in figures Since 2006, China has been the largest single market for Airbus in terms of deliveries. Since 2010, deliveries to China have accounted for more than 20% of Airbus’ total production. Currently, around 890 Airbus aircraft are operated by 17 Chinese airlines, about half of the total fleet of aircraft over 100 seats.
Shanghai and Beijing, which increases the demand for more widebody aircraft.
How is business done? Some people say it is difficult to do business in China. However, we have a different view; we try to adapt to market conditions. China has a market-oriented economy under government control. We usually say that we sell aircraft to China twice: once to the airlines and another time to the government. Airbus is used to the process and that’s very important for our continued success. The Chinese government runs the economy on a five-year plan basis. For the aviation industry, the plan gives guidance on how many aircraft are likely to be introduced, how many airports are likely to be built and how many pilots need to be trained and so on.
What’s the challenge from the competition? Since Airbus’ commercial success, Boeing has mobilised more resources to fight back, for example by reserving prime delivery slots for Chinese customers. But we are confident we can grow our position, thanks to our large customer base and strategic partnerships. China has enough resources to develop its own large aircraft programme - the Comac C919 is a direct competitor for the A320 Family. However, a single aircraft type can’t threaten Airbus because we have a comprehensive product family that takes many years to develop. It will take a long time for Comac to become a strong rival. Anyway, the Chinese market is big enough for three manufacturers. But we should not underestimate the competition. If we rest on our laurels, we will be left behind. The
Airbus’ Global Market Forecast estimates that the Chinese will be almost five times more likely to travel by air in 2031 compared to 2011. By then, China share of global air travel will have reached 11%. Last year Chinese air passengers exceeded 300 million and according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, that number will reach 1.5 billion by 2030, making China the world’s largest civil aviation market. key for a manufacturer is to stay competitive. Once you are competitive, you are not afraid of competition. /////.
What are Airbus’ prospects in China? Continued economic growth is the single most powerful driving force for fleet expansion. As long as growth is sustained, more and more Chinese will travel abroad for business, pleasure or education. That’s good news for aircraft manufacturers. Inbound tourism and business travel are also on the increase. Backed by profits from the domestic market, Chinese airlines are paying more and more attention to lucrative international routes. That is an opportunity to further grow our Chinese fleet of longrange aircraft. They will add to the huge success of the A320 Family, which of course is now produced in China.
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Signed, sealed and delivered Be it in Toulouse, Hamburg, Tianjin or very soon Mobile, each glittering aircraft delivery ceremony is just the final step in a long process that often starts with a handshake many years earlier.
An airline or lessor intending to acquire aircraft enters discussions with Airbus and signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU defines the type and number of aircraft involved, and the price. The MoU is valid for a limited period, after which it can no longer be converted into a....
Purchase Agreement (PA). The PA transforms the MoU into a contract. It defines all the terms and conditions for the purchase of the aircraft, including technical specifications, pricing and payment, and the planned delivery schedule. In its printed form, the PA is as thick as a telephone directory.
To validate the purchase agreement, the customer commits to a schedule of Pre-Delivery Payments (PDPs). These downpayments can represent up to 30% of an aircraft’s value. In 2012, Airbus received a record $11 billion in pre-delivery payments.
The delivery phase starts with the inspection of the aircraft carried out by technicians and pilots representing Airbus and the customer.
On the ground, airline and Airbus technicians examine the jet from nose to tail. Then the aircraft’s systems are tested during the accep tan ce fligh t, carried out by an Airbus pilot with the customer.
If the ground checks and the flight are satisfactory, the aircraft is deemed to be ready for delivery and Airbus performs the technical acceptance completion (TAC). Throughout this phase of checks, a Contracts Delivery Manager is on alert to iron out any technical issues the customer may have commercially. Once an agreement is reached, delivery can go ahead.
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From the moment the PA is signed until delivery of the last aircraft on order, Airbus’ Contracts Managers work closely with the customer to ensure each party’s obligations are met – in particular, that the flow of cash matches the PDP schedule – and that the PA continues to reflect the customer’s evolving requirements.
The jetliner is assembled and painted in the operator’s livery and the production team hands it over to the Airbus delivery team. Customers receive around one month’s prior notice of their aircraft’s delivery date.
The final stage is the transfer of title (ToT), which transfers ownership of the aircraft to the customer. The ToT requires the customer’s formal acceptance of the aircraft and receipt of payment in full. Each step in the process can sometimes take longer than expected and it’s not unusual for Airbus teams to work late into the night to complete a delivery.
With the money safely in the bank, the bill of sale is handed over to the owner. And then it’s time for a glass of champagne.
In 2012, Airbus’ 27 Contracts Managers and as many Contracts Delivery Managers in Toulouse, Hamburg and Tianjin handled 588 deliveries and administered 914 orders.
Airbus always provides onboard catering for the ‘ferry flight’ that follows delivery. Now it’s time for the aircraft to fly to its new home and start to earn money for our customer.
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Getting closer to customers
Changing places, sharing skills Airbus employee Terence Frost recently completed a three-month Qantas engineering exchange in Sydney.
Trading places: Terence Frost with his wife Val and children Sophie and Ethan. Terence has 15 years’ experience working on landing gear systems, in particular in the fields of modelling and simulation. The exchange was advertised in summer 2012, and he was selected from 10 employees who applied. His role with the Qantas Fleet Management Team offered a completely different perspective to his responsibilities as head of the modelling group with the landing gear department in Filton. During the exchange, he was working at Qantas Jet Base at Sydney Airport, the company’s main engineering headquarters in an engineering role within the multinational aircraft performance team, for Qantas’ fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The work culture was similar to Airbus and staff were extremely welcoming, Terence says. He was able to try different areas of work and organise knowledge sharing sessions with his Airbus colleagues back in Filton. Terence undertook landing performance calculations for the Qantas fleet, and helped produce data sheets for pilots so they could carry out the
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dispatch calculations depending on the environment at the destination airport. “The engineers and mechanics gave me interesting feedback,” Terence recalls. “They also allowed me to do investigations on behalf of the team back at Filton. One of our aircraft was grounded in Singapore due to body wheel steering problems and I worked alongside the Qantas and Filton teams to interrogate the fault.” Having close access to a customer’s operations gave Terence a far better understanding of the logistics of managing an airline. “Qantas staff are very positive towards Airbus,” he says. “They say we provide them with many useful tools.” He particularly enjoyed working with them on the introduction of the FlySmart with Airbus (electronic flight bag) App available on the iPad. “Airbus field service representatives in Sydney were well regarded and contributed a lot to the wonderful experience,” Terence concludes. Airbus customer support director Derek Blackham believes it is extremely valuable for Airbus engineers to gain first-hand experience of the day-to-day activity within an airline.
“And there are real benefits to the airline to have access to our engineering specialists,” he explains. “Terry organised a few working groups to share his landing gear experience and he was warmly welcomed by Qantas. Qantas senior management are really keen to develop a strong working relationship with Airbus and are looking for further exchanges in 2013.” Bertrand Masson, Qantas Manager Fleet Development, adds that Qantas has been involved for some time in the exchange programme, welcoming engineers from Airbus and sending its own engineers to Airbus facilities. “All the Airbus candidates that we have hosted in the Fleet Development Team of Qantas Engineering have been outstanding, and have contributed positively,” he says. “They have been able to bring their knowledge into Qantas and appreciated the way that an airline operates the equipment that they contribute in designing. “Terence came from a background not directly related to aircraft performance engineering, but due to his great analytical mind, was quick in adapting to new engineering challenges, and was able to provide novel solutions to our existing issues. “We highly appreciated his enthusiasm, hard work and great team spirit. He fitted in extremely well, and we were all quite sad to see him leave. Qantas Engineering is certainly a great fan of this exchange programme, and is looking forward to hosting the next engineer.” /////.
Future pilot: Terence’s son Ethan tries an aircraft cockpit for size.
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Model maker
Monsieur miniature Frenchman Jérôme Engel, a controller at Airbus in Hamburg has one obsession: scouring the internet for blueprints of extravagant aircraft from the 1930s and 1940s, which he reconstructs in miniature.
So far, he has produced over one hundred of these models. He devotes an hour or so to it every evening, working away in a corner of his living room, much to his wife’s chagrin. “Soon, though, we’ll move into a house with room for a workshop,” Jérôme explains. His eyes glowing, he enthuses about ingenious aircraft designers of the last century, people like Richard Vogt and broth-
Model fleet: Jérôme Engel is pictured alongside a display of some of his handmade miniature aircraft.
ers Reimar and Walter Horten: “They did not have tools like simulation or computers, just a host of ideas they simply tried out.” Blohm & Voss engineer Vogt, for example, created the asymmetrical aircraft called the BV 141, while the Horten Brothers invented flying wings, a futuristic structure without a fuselage or empennage. They designed a supersonic allwing jet and dreamed of passenger aircraft without a fuselage. “Bizarre designs - sheer insanity in those days!” Jérôme says. “Only a handful of these ‘ideas’ actually took off.” Like the Horten IX, the first and only flying wing fighter jet, which crashed near Oranienburg on 18 February 1945. The hundreds of prototypes that never made it into the air are the focus of his work. At his Finkenwerder office, he digs through meticulously sorted documents to produce an original blueprint of an unknown aircraft type made by Blohm & Voss: the BV 215215. “I won it in an eBay auction for 15 Euros,” he says. Some parts he needs, such as propellers or wheels, can be
Handmade model: a Heinkel He.P.1065/IIc asymmetric fast bomber project 1943 aircraft model. bought from hobby shops or internet forums. Others he has to fashion himself, using items like shampoo bottles or toothpaste tube caps. Sometimes, he even makes things from scratch by casting parts in resin and sanding them down until everything fits. Thankfully, he will soon no longer be doing this in his living room.
Jérôme’s wishlist is long and there is no end in sight for his miniature projects. He is looking to meet like-minded people at Airbus, with whom he can share ideas. So far, only his colleagues in building 44 can admire his miniature treasures. Hopefully, though, these ‘demonstrators’ of crazy ideas and state of the art aircraft technologies will one day be made easily accessible for anyone who is interested, perhaps in a permanent exhibition at Airbus’ Finkenwerder site. /////.
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A350 XWB
Meet the first flight test crew When the first A350 XWB - known as MSN1 - makes its first flight, an international crew of six pilots and engineers will be on board. In this edition, we take a look at the two pilots and the project test flight engineer.
Peter Chandler: Lead Flight Test Pilot
Guy Magrin: Flight Test Pilot
Pascal Verneau: Project Test Flight Engineer
Peter Chandler: Lead Flight Test Pilot
Edwards Air Force Base in California. After graduation, Peter spent the rest of his RAF career as a test pilot and instructor. Leaving the RAF in 1994, Peter went to work as a commercial airline pilot specialising in longhaul flights on Airbus A340s. The chief test pilot for Airbus’ civil programmes since 2008, Peter was deeply involved in the development and testing of the A380, just as he has been for the A350 XWB. This will be Peter’s first time at the controls for a ‘First Flight’ and he knows that there are a lot of pilots who never get to have this experience. “I am very lucky and very privileged,” he said. “And if not for that basic sciences class a long time ago, I might not be sitting here.”
since the very beginning. “At the start, you felt you were on a team of 50-60 people, but that’s completely wrong,” he said. “Later on, I went to the production line, I saw all those people working on the aircraft and I realised that it’s a huge piece of work by thousands and thousands of people.” Born in Dijon, France, Guy wanted a career that would be both physically and intellectually challenging. He remembered watching fighter jets flying overhead when he was younger and thought being a fighter pilot would be perfect, so he joined the French Air Force. After graduating from flight school, Guy would eventually progress all the way up to squadron leader. Then, he graduated from the test pilot programme and spent the rest of his military career as a test pilot. In 1989, he became a commercial airline pilot, flying A320s and A330s for the next 14 years. Shortly after join-
A flight test pilot for Airbus since joining the company in 2000, Peter Chandler can trace his fascination with aircraft back to a basic sciences teacher who showed his young students how airflow over and around a wing enabled a plane to fly. “We were all maybe 10years old and whilst I don’t think I was the only one to understand the concept,” Peter said, “I may have been the only one to find it interesting.” As a teenager, he joined a local Air Cadets programme and had the opportunity to fly light aircraft. Later, he flew more regularly as he studied aeronautical engineering at Southampton University in England. After receiving his degree, he joined the Royal Air Force in 1975, where he principally flew ground-attack aircraft. Wanting to become a test pilot, he applied for and was accepted into the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at
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Guy Magrin: Flight Test Pilot Guy Magrin is a test pilot who has been involved with the A350 XWB programme
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Flying soon: the A350 XWB cockpit. ing Airbus in September 2003, Guy was assigned to the A350 programme as the project pilot where he said his primary role was working on the design of the cockpit. “I think my years as a commercial airline pilot help me understand the needs of the end-users, the pilots who will fly this aircraft every day.” As for the upcoming ‘first flight,’ he finished up by saying, “Every pilot dreams his whole life of making the first flight on a prototype - I will never forget this experience.”
Pascal Verneau: Project Test Flight Engineer Pascal Verneau has come a long way from being a 10-year old boy ‘fixing’ his grandfather’s tractor to being the project test flight engineer of the A350 XWB programme. Growing up in Tours in central France, he
watched pilots taking off from a nearby training base and thought, “They’re having more fun up there than I’m having down here on the ground. I’m going to try and do that.” But Pascal didn’t like school; he preferred discovering how mechanical things worked. And when he learned that pilots had to do a lot of studying, he decided he would rather become an aircraft mechanic, just like a cousin of his. After receiving his certificate in aircraft mechanics, he joined the French Air Force in 1981 as a maintenance technician. At this point, he had developed a love of learning. He took evening courses for seven years, receiving his degree in engineering in 1987. In 1988, he received a helicopter flight crew qualification for search and rescue missions. And in 1995 he graduated from the Ecole du Personnel Navigant d’Essais et de
Réception (EPNER) as a flight test engineer. He has held a pilot licence since 1996. Pascal joined Airbus’ flight test division in 1999 and participated in the development tests of the A340-600. He then became aircraft manager for the second flight test A380 and has since flown 3,300 hours on the A380. In 2007, he was appointed to his current position in the A350 XWB programme. As such, he is again the aircraft manager, the focal point for issues between the design office engineers and the flight test crew. /////.
Join us for the next edition, when we will profile the other members of the crew.
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THE HISTORY LESSON
They built Airbus
Bernard Lathière, leading with charm Airbus’ early leaders were engineers and pilots, schooled in the ways of aviation and, as the A300 proved, capable of building excellent products. So when the charming Bernard Lathière arrived from the world of finance and politics in 1975 it was a major change. Bernard Lathiere: President and chief executive officer (1975-1985).
Through darkness... Unfortunately, fewer airlines seemed to be interested in Lathière’s advances and the order books emptied. The company entered its ‘black period’. No sales were made in 1976 and whitetails were starting to build up in Toulouse. Pressure to stop production was mounting. Acutely aware of how this would look to potential customers who weren’t yet convinced that Airbus was viable in the longterm, Lathière and his colleagues resisted. Largely thanks to Bernard’s political and financial contacts, the production rate was maintained at 0.5 but sales were urgently needed. A sales push was launched, concentrating on those Middle and Far East airlines who were newer to the business and less tied to the established manufacturers. The ‘silk road strategy’ sales started to come in May 1977 when Thai Airways ordered two A300s with two options. These smaller orders gave hope for the future and Bernard, like an angler feeling fish nibbling, was convinced that bigger ones were coming. He soon took dramatic action to ensure a prize catch.
... to success Different skills Born in India as part of a family from Limoges, he went on to study at l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and the School of National Administration, or ENA, before joining the French ministry of defence. Bernard brought with him talents that were to prove vital to Airbus’ survival and growth over the next few years. His first challenge was to ensure that a deal struck by his predecessor Henri Ziegler was completed. Indian Airlines was hesitant
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about signing up for the A300 and competition was fierce. Bernard flew to Delhi and established a rapport with his hosts by producing a childhood photograph of himself with Mahatma Ghandi. The order went to Airbus. Lathière had shown a glimpse of what would become a remarkable flair for selling. A colleague told ONE how he described the task of winning orders ahead of established manufacturers: “The airlines are like happily married women, they are perfectly content. I’m the man that has to seduce them into trying something different.”
Frank Borman of Eastern Airlines was interested in operating A300s. But, despite becoming friends with Lathière who often teased the former Apollo astronaut about his intensely blue eyes, Borman didn’t commit to a deal. In an astonishingly bold move Bernard offered Eastern Airlines four brand new aircraft for six months free of charge. Five nervous months later a message arrived telling Lathière that he had a ‘blue-eyed baby’. Impressed Eastern kept the four aircraft, ordered 23 more and added 9 options. It was a major breakthrough in America and a clear signal to the rest of the
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world that Airbus could compete anywhere. The sales started to flow. By the end of 1979 Airbus had delivered 81 aircraft to 14 airlines, had 133 firm orders on the books and had taken a 26% share of the market. It had become a commercial force to be reckoned with.
Innovation Although Lathière was no engineer he trusted Roger Béteille and supported his vision of an Airbus family, happy to let the engineering community explore new ideas and new products while he made sure that the funding and political support that the company needed was in place. The development of the A310, the first wide-body two-crew, with its forwardfacing cockpit gave Airbus a new product and proved the feasibility of commonality. It also told customers that the company would be around in future. Bernard Ziegler, head of test flight at the time, remembers occasional ten-
Presenting the A310: Lathière, flanked by Kracht and Krook, reveals the new project at the Farnborough Airshow in 1978.
sion. “From an engineering view the thing that set the A310 apart was the cockpit,” he recalls. “That was the area we were all proud of, that we’d developed. Lathière had done a deal with Air France to sell them specially adapted versions without the new cockpit. I was furious, Béteille was furious and we let him know how angry we were but Bernard pointed out that to fund development you have to sell aircraft.”
The personal touch Lively, enthusiastic and friendly, Lathière didn’t reserve his charm for customers and introduced a far less formal approach to management. His insistence on first names and willingness to talk to anyone from any level of the company were appreciated by the young
Remembering an internationalist: “I got a call from Lathière one evening. He explained that he was going to dinner with the CEO of a Japanese airline. Would I come? I wasn’t keen, I knew our guest didn’t speak any European languages so it would be a very dull meal. I arrived at the restaurant late to hear Bernard’s laughter as a young translator recounted a tale of how our guest had once bailed
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First A310 delivery: To Lufthansa and Swiss Air in 1983. workforce and helped to give employees the confidence to suggest changes and innovations. Alongside his internationalism, and his insistence that Airbus Industrie should make crucial decisions for itself rather than being influenced by the partners, this was to prove an essential ingredient in the company’s culture. When Lathière left Airbus in 1985 he gave an impromptu farewell speech to a small gathering of colleagues at Blagnac airport. He became quite emotional and several members of the audience shed tears too: a remarkable tribute to a man who wasn’t an engineer. Bernard Lathière went on to become head of Paris Airports and died in June 1997. /////.
out of a fighter only to lose his trousers in the process. They’d had three whiskeys and were half way through a bottle of very good wine. We had a marvellous evening. Bernard understood and charmed everyone, from all cultures. That inclusive approach was very unusual back then and I think it made a great contribution to what Airbus has become.” Bernard Ziegler, retired head of engineering.
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Aircraft complete: A350 XWB MSN1’s two flight-ready Trent XWB engines and Honeywell auxiliary power are now in place, clearing the way to first flight.
