Farnborough 2008 Show News - July 16, 2008 - (Page 38)

CLEAN FA R N B O R O U G H 2 0 0 8 AND GREEN A 57-flight tailored arrivals demonstration program indicates that fuel use can be pared by up to 39%, and the trials alone eliminated 500,000 lb of emission. Tailored Arrivals Deliver Results at SFO Boeing, three airlines, NASA and the FAA proved at San Francisco International Airport that tailored arrival procedures can save up to 39% of fuel during descent from cruise altitude to landing, depending on aircraft type. United Airlines, Air New Zealand and Japan Airlines completed 57 flights at San Francisco between December, 2007, and March of this year. Carbon emissions were reduced by 500,000 lb during the demonstrations. Boeing 777-200ER and 747-400 aircraft participated. The aircraft were in international service and equipped with the Future Air Navigation avionics used for the datalink in the flight trials. Tailored arrivals involve an air traffic control center sending a desired arrival trajectory to the flight deck of an aircraft so the data can be loaded into the aircraft’s flight management computer. The trajectory can then be followed automatically by a flight management system, and the flight path allows for a continuous descent arrival. A CDA involves setting the throttles to near idle from cruise all the way to near touchdown in many cases. However, at times, conflicting air traffic means the continuous descent must be broken off at some point. Boeing and its partners conducted 119 additional flights with these partially tailored arrivals, which saved 379 lb per flight for the 777s on average and 1,100 lb for the 747s. The FAA also used the Lockheed Martin Ocean 21 automated air traffic management system to conduct the demonstrations into San Francisco. The agency is gearing up to work with Boeing on an additional tailored arrival demonstration at Miami International Airport later this year as part of a transatlantic initiative to reduce fuel burn, emissions and noise as aircraft cross the Atlantic Ocean. The European Commission is a partner with the FAA in the project. Boeing aims to use tailored arrivals to show how some of the improvements envisioned in the FAA’s NextGen ATC modernization program, set for completion in 2025, can be implemented much earlier. “Concepts like tailored arrivals potentially can be deployed quickly and at relatively low cost because the technology is in place today,” says Kevin Brown, vice president and general manager of Boeing’s Air Traffic Management Unit. British Airways/Rolls-Royce Ponder Green Fuel for the Blue Yonder? A scientific test program by Rolls-Royce and British Airways to investigate the viability of alternative fuels for the aviation industry was announced as the Farnborough Show opened. The in-depth study will seek to identify practical alternatives to the current industry-standard fuel, kerosene, with the potential to make reductions to the carbon footprint of aircraft. Following the tender process, there will be a selection of up to four alternative fuels, which will undergo laboratory testing before being delivered to Rolls-Royce in the new year. Each company will be asked to supply up to 60,000 liters of their alternative fuel. This will be followed by intensive trials, during which the engine will be powered by the alternative fuels and its performance compared to running on conventional kerosene. In each case, the engine will be operated through its full range of power settings including idle, acceleration, take off and cruise. Testing is expected to be complete by the end of March 2009. It is critical that the fuel can not only do the job required of it, but can also offer a CO2 benefit and be produced without a detrimental impact on food, land or water,” said Ric Parker, Director of Research and Technology at Rolls-Royce. “There must also be clear evidence of the potential for mass production and global distribution of an alternative fuel to support the world’s aviation industry.” Jonathon Counsell, Head of Environment at British Airways, said: “We are now well on our way to our target of a 30% [fuel efficiency] improvement by 2010. Recently, we announced a further 25% improvement target on fuel efficiency by 2025 compared with 2005. Should the tests we are undertaking with Rolls-Royce be successful, the potential for bringing us closer to a greener fuel alternative that will help the aviation industry reduce its carbon footprint is enormous. The results of the study will be made public so the whole industry, its customers— and most importantly, the environment— —Paul Jackson can benefit.” BA wants to burn less fuel in its RR engines. 38 July 16, 2008 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews

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Bombardier, Shenyang $5 Billion for Composites 787 and Seven V-22s for Export Sale? Saving Fuel at SFO Raytheon Roars Into UAVs Bell Eyes ARH-70A Costs All According to Plan We Fly the PC-12NG Russia’s T-50 PAK-FA Optimistic in Israel ICAO Sim Classifications Pratt to Power New Drone Russian Conglomerate

Farnborough 2008 Show News - July 16, 2008

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