Vertiflite May/June 2021

A Publication of the Vertical Flight Society

May/June 2021

Advancing Vertical Flight Since 1943

INGENUITY ONMARS

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Advancing Vertical Flight Since 1943

May/June 2021 VOLUME 67, NUMBER 3

Vertiflite is the official publication of The Vertical Flight Society, the professional society for the advancement of vertical flight technology and its useful application throughout the world. Vertiflite ’s editorial energies are devoted to informing our readers of the advances being made in the field and encouraging increasingly broader use of rotorcraft and vertical lift technology. Vertiflite is published six times per year by The Vertical Flight Society. ​ Non-profit postage rate paid at Annapolis, MD, and additional mailing offices. Vertiflite is distributed to members of The Vertical Flight Society free of charge or is available by subscription for institutions and non-members for $190 per year (includes all shipping and handling charges). Single copies are available for $50. Copyright © 2021 American Helicopter Society International, Inc. — The Vertical Flight Society. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without written approval is strictly prohibited. Mike Hirschberg , Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Steve Norwood, Creative Director Austin Fitz, Art Director Jessica Starr, Managing Editor Jim Sherman, Assistant Editor Betty Chen, In-House Graphics Frank Colucci, Senior Editor Kenneth I. Swartz, Senior Editor Contributors: Ian Frain, Robert Moorman, Richard Whittle, Nicolas Zart

DEPARTMENTS 02 Letters 04 Washington Report 06 Commentary: Workforce: Winning the War for Talent 08 Leadership Moves 10 Industry Briefs 14 Coming to Terms: TRL vs. Readiness 70 Electric VTOL News 74 Educational Initiatives 78 Leadership Profile: Tomasz Krysinski 80 Society Update 84 Calendar of Events

FEATURES 16 Ingenuity Takes Off on Mars 22 Airbus Starts Racer Assembly 24 FVL on Four Fronts 25 Honeywell Plans Chinook Engine Upgrade 28 Through Pave Hawk Eyes 32 Entering the Ice Age with Leonardo 36 The World Rotorcraft Market 2021-2030 46 VFS Continues Record Growth, Reaches 150 Corporate Members 48 VFS eVTOL Infrastructure Workshop Review: Advancing Technology through Policy 50 Lilium Goes Big 58 Stamping Out Air Taxis 64 Hard-Core Hybrids 68 Beta Announces Multiple Sales 76 Virtual Meetings — Powering Through a Full Year

ADVERTISERS Airbus Helicopters......................... 3 BAE Systems.................................49 Bell................................................... C2 Boeing Company........................ C4 Continuum Dynamics.................63 Crane Aerospace.........................67 European Rotorcraft Forum... 44 Forecast International................. 15 Gamma Technologies..................41 Gastops...........................................35 GE Aviation...................................... 9 Genuen............................................23 Georgia Tech.................................47 Hexagon.......................................... 75 Hutchinson....................................... 5 Janicki...............................................61 Karem Aircraft............................... 13 L3Harris...........................................35

Leonardo.........................................45 Lockheed Martin......................... C3 MinebeaMitsumi Aerospace....84 NES...................................................23 NEXA................................................68 Penn State University.................26 Pratt & Whitney Canada............31 Rolls-Royce.................................... 27 Siemens........................................... 57 Survival Systems......................... 44 Toray Advanced Composites..69 VFF Scholarships.........................62 VFS Calendar of Events............84 VFS Members in the Know......62 VFS Structures Meeting........... 30 VFS Transformative Meeting... 73 VFS VMS Meeting....................... 30

ISSN 2166-933 (online) ISSN 0042-4455 (print)

Postmaster, send address changes to: The Vertical Flight Society 2700 Prosperity Ave, Suite 275 Fairfax, Virginia 22031 USA 1-703-684-6777 Fax: 1-703-739-9279 staff@vtol.org • www.vtol.org

ABOUT OUR COVER The Ingenuity Mars helicopter made history on April 19 as the first aircraft to fly on another planet (see pg. 16). This photo is from April 8. (NASA)

Vertiflite is designed and printed by Ironmark.

THE VERTICAL FLIGHT SOCIETY Letters

Autoland In the March 2021 edition of Flying magazine, the lead article addresses the candidates for this year’s Flying Innovation Awards, given each year to the most significant new products or developments in advancing the art of aviation. The lead candidate this year is the Garmin Autonomi system, their suite of integrated avionics and aircraft systems for automatically landing general aviation aircraft if the pilot-in-command becomes unable to perform the duties of his or her position. In May 2020, Halo (Piper’s version of Autonomi) became operational on the M600 single-engine turboprop airplane. Two months later another single-engine turboprop, the Daher TBM 940, began rolling off the production line with their version, which they call HomeSafe. Finally in September of last year, the G2 version of the Cirrus Vision Jet (the earlier version did not have the required autothrottle) was certified by the FAA with their Safe Return system. By whatever name, the Garmin Autonomi system functions the same: Upon activation by the pilot or a passenger, said system automatically navigates the aircraft to a suitable airport within range, and lands. One may therefore ask: Would it be possible for Garmin to devise an autoland system for helicopters? Unlike fixed-wing aircraft, an autoland system for helicopters need not restrict emergency landings to airports with sufficiently long runways. Any large enough open clearing will do. In cases similar to the Kobe Bryant tragedy, if the pilot in command realizes he or she has blundered into [inadvertent Instrument meteorological conditions] another option for autoland emergency landings is wherever that S-76 was supposed to go anyway. Regards for all VFS does, Alex Kovnat W. Bloomfield Township, Michigan USA Member Since 2003 Sikorsky has demonstrated autonomous capabilities on its S-76 Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft (SARA) and S-70 Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV) Black Hawk, and has fielded its Rig Approach fully coupled and automated approach capability on the S-92, certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2013 and by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in 2015. To date, however, there are no other commercial applications of a helicopter autoland capability. – Ed.

Support VFF Scholarships! The Society's philanthropic arm, the Vertical Flight Foundation (VFF), was established in 1967 and today provides $100,000 of annual merit- based scholarships for engineers interested in careers in vertical flight. The Foundation's awards are made possible thanks to the generosity and support of our contributors. The Society gratefully acknowledges the contributions made to VFF over the preceding two months: Bill Welsh $1,000.00 In Memory of James “Jim” Howlett Anatoly Kogan $500.00 In Memory of Marat Tischenko Kent Johnson $125.00 Joanne Fang $100.00 In Memory of James “Jim” Howlett Michael Hanlon $100.00 In Memory of James “Jim” Howlett Berend van der Wall $100.00 Roy Wagner $67.02 Nancy Soma $60.00 In Memory of Jack Fetsko Steve Zalesch $54.00 Jennifer Ewing $50.09 In Memory of James “Jim” Howlett Robert Bill $50.00 Edward and Irene Cowern $50.00 In Memory of James “Jim” Howlett Bradley Miller $50.00 Jeff Purse $50.00 Chris Snyder $50.00 Bob Fortenbaugh $50.00 Cindy Golia, Alex Kovnat, Donald Spinks and Lorraine Tantorski also made contributions. Please consider supporting the future leaders of vertical flight with a scholarship donation today! Go to www.vtol.org/VFF .

May / June 2021

Have something to say about a recent Vertiflite article, or anything else about vertical flight? Let us know what you think! Send your emails to editor@vtol.org .

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THE SCENES

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THE VERTICAL FLIGHT SOCIETY Washington Report

FAA Charters AAM Council FAA Administrator Steve Dickson announced in a March 4 virtual town hall meeting sponsored by the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) that the agency was standing up an AAM Integration Executive Council. Aviation International News quoted Dickson as saying, “We are standing up an executive council to make sure we are looking at identifying all the issues and dealing with not only the certification of the machines but also how we will scale them and how we will operate them throughout the system.” According to AIN , the FAA council will “set and track AAM objectives, lead the development of an agency-wide AAM integration plan, make sure the agency’s safety goals are met, examine changes needed in FAA policies, resolve applicant and project issues, and oversee communication and outreach efforts. Dickson also noted, “We are collaborating with industry groups on 37 aircraft certification projects and seven electric engine certification projects. It’s just absolutely incredible and that work continues to ramp up.” The council is intended to provide insights to FAA leadership from across the agency. Biden Administration’s Budget Outline The White House released a budget blueprint on April 9 that covered $1.5T in discretionary funding (i.e. not including mandatory spending such as Social Security, Medicare, and interest on the national debt). This top-level budget included massive (20–41%) increases to the budgets for (in declining order) the Departments of Education, Commerce and Health and Human Services, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and National Science Foundation. Overall, the discretionary budget request was 8.5% higher than the previous year’s, but non-defense spending was up 16%. The US Defense Department received a 1.5% increase (to $715B), which is a net 0.4% reduction after adjusting for inflation. No further breakout was provided. NASA’s $24.7B budget was 6.3% higher than requested last year and includes increases for the Artemis lunar mission, space technology research and development, earth science research and STEM education. The budget also includes an $86M increase for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) to $916M — a 10.4% increase — to “enhance U.S. competitiveness in the global aviation industry that employs hundreds of thousands of Americans. This increased funding would broaden and accelerate the testing of technologies that would enable highly efficient, next-generation airliners.”

AAM Support in Congress On Feb. 25, Representatives Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) and Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) introduced H.R.1339, the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act, in the US House of Representatives. This was followed on March 1 in the US Senate by S.516 with the same name, introduced by Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona). The two nearly identical bills require the Secretary of Transportation to establish an advanced air mobility (AAM) interagency working group “to plan and coordinate efforts related to the safety, infrastructure, physical security, cybersecurity, and Federal investment necessary for maturation of the AAM ecosystem in the United States.” Specifically, the bills call on the Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy to chair the working group, with additional representatives from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the departments of Transportation, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, Commerce, and any other departments or agencies the Secretary of Transportation deems appropriate. The working group is charged with coordinating with aviation industry and labor stakeholders, including AAM vehicle and subsystems developers, operators, airports, utilities and state, local, and tribal officials or public agencies. The bills specifically define AAM as meaning “an air transportation system that moves people and cargo between places using new aircraft designs including electric aircraft and electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL), which are integrated into existing airspace operations as well as operated in local, regional, intraregional, rural, and urban environments, and which may include unmanned or remotely piloted vehicles. ” (The Senate version includes the additional words in italics.)

May / June 2021

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THE VERTICAL FLIGHT SOCIETY Commentary

Workforce: Winning the War for Talent By Mike Hirschberg, VFS Executive Director

Beyond FARA and FLRAA, the US Navy and Marine Corps are each spooling up their FVL efforts (see “FVL on Four Fronts,” pg. 24), and the Army has plans for a future VTOL Advanced Unmanned Aircraft System (AUAS). Each of these programs will need hundreds of engineers. Other military and civil rotorcraft developments and improvement efforts must also be factored into these needs. In addition to the billions of dollars in investments in FVL, billions more are pouring into the eVTOL industry, including a total of $3.5B announced in February and March this year just to Archer, Joby and Lilium (see “Lilium Goes Big,” pg. 50). Together, these three companies have nearly 500 job openings — including 250 engineering positions — seeking top talent to reach their ambitious plans to each field eVTOL air taxis in 2024. Dozens of other leading eVTOL developers are facing similar talent crunches, driving up the cost of talent. Many eVTOL companies are hiring away top talent from rotorcraft companies — causing a “brain drain” of experienced engineers while they are also trying to staff up for programs like FVL — and even from other eVTOL developers. A notional estimate is that to reach certification of a new, advanced VTOL aircraft, it takes 10 years, $1B and about 1,000 employees, with two-thirds being engineers and technologists (though obviously aircraft size, complexity and management are major influences). A study on FVL last year by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), “Assessing the Industrial Base Implications of the Army’s Future Vertical Lift Plans,” noted that “The biggest challenge facing the entire rotorcraft industry is the competition for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) talent with non-traditional defense firms… which can offer substantially more money. Right now, many of the major rotorcraft primes are undertaking large efforts to hire engineering talent to work on clean sheet designs of new products and lines.” The Army’s FVL leaders have frequently mentioned the VTOL workforce as a major area of concern. In the 1990s, the need for software engineers during the dot-com boom caused significant software cost and schedule delays to the ill-fated RAH-66 Comanche program. With the aggressive timelines and leap-ahead technologies that need to be wrung out for robust future weapons systems, FVL can’t afford years of delays or major technical problems caused by a talent crisis. The Talent Pipeline VFS forecasts the need to hire 1,000 additional engineers annually for civil and military VTOL developments for at least the next decade. Where will these additional 10,000 engineers come from? As discussed in that commentary on workforce last year, the US government needs to dramatically increase the funding for Vertical Lift Research Centers of Excellence (VLRCOEs) to increase the production of newly trained VTOL graduate students. The 16 current US VLRCOEs are funded by the US Army, US Navy and NASA at a paltry $4.5M a year among them all, which is less than when the centers were started nearly 40 years ago with only three schools! A tenfold increase in US government funding would go a long way to

VFS conducted a workforce study early last year ( www.vtol.org/workforce ) identifying some of the major challenges for the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) industry and addressed key points in our commentary, “Looking Back: A Perspective on the Future Vertical Workforce,” Vertiflite , July/Aug 2020. One of the key findings was that some 10,000 additional

vertical flight engineers will be needed over the next decade to meet the simultaneous demands of ramping up development of military rotorcraft plus electric VTOL aircraft. We are now conducting a more detailed study to help the vertical flight community understand the problem and identify solutions. Importantly, we are also looking at how VFS can help support the needs of the future vertical workforce by promoting diversity through our new DiversiFLY initiative. The Talent Crisis As noted last year, there is a “war for talent” in vertical flight. Despite the layoffs and engineering workforce reductions in civil aviation — primarily due to the devastating impacts of the global novel coronavirus pandemic on the airline industry — the demand for engineering talent applicable to vertical flight aircraft development has reached crisis proportions for companies depending on aggressive timelines for developing and fielding their advanced vertical flight aircraft in the coming years. At the same time that electric VTOL companies are each hunting for scores of engineers to hire immediately, traditional helicopter manufacturers are doing the same. The US Army-led Future Vertical Lift (FVL) initiative depends on meeting cost, schedule and technical performance commitments for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) and Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) programs. Both efforts are developing next-generation rotorcraft with capabilities far beyond today’s helicopters. Bell and Sikorsky are now advertising for more than 200 open jobs each. Once FARA and FLRAA transition into Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) next year, the winning teams will have to hire even more engineers — with a particular premium on those who have experience in VTOL aircraft development.

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improve and expand the facilities and research programs, and boost the number of engineers graduating with degrees in VTOL research. Electric VTOL developers in particular are looking for highly skilled engineers. Of course, “it takes a long time for an engineer to gain 10 years of experience,” but a graduate degree from a VLRCOE program can provide comparable skills in less time. If the US Department of Defense and NASA are serious about advancing vertical flight in the United States, increased investments in infrastructure and throughput of trained engineering graduates are needed. The VLRCOE universities invest their own funds in their programs, in some instances 1:1 matching of government funds, and the VLRCOE funding attracts other research, providing as much as 8:1 in vertical lift funding over the government’s investment. Industry can help as well by supporting scholarships, endowments, chairs, facilities and/or public- private partnerships to increase throughput. These efforts will increase the quality of new engineering graduates. But increasing the quantity of potential engineers in the pipeline requires a redoubling of wide- ranging efforts that are underway, but can be improved. The excitement of electric VTOL has inspired nearly 450 concepts so far — everything from the silly to the serious, as catalogued in the VFS World eVTOL Aircraft Directory ( www.eVTOL.news/aircraft ) — many by innovators and industrial designers with little prior experience in aircraft design. This illustrates the strong allure that vertical flight has in the public imagination, even by those without the talent to realize their visions. The US Air Force’s virtual launch of its Agility Prime program last year was also a hugely inspiring series of events that contrasted with the COVID-19 pandemic and attracted tens of thousands of viewers. The hundreds of small Air Force study contracts that followed gave further momentum to eVTOL. Events like flying a helicopter on Mars have also been incredibly inspirational (see “Ingenuity Takes Off on Mars,” pg. 16) to the public, greatly overshadowing the feats of NASA’s fifth, and largest, rover on the Red Planet. These inspirational visions and accomplishments must be exploited to encourage more students to enter the STEM fields. While this won’t help the immediate talent crisis, today’s high schoolers will be entering the workforce in five years, when the demand is forecasted to be just as strong. Harvard University recently made headlines by boasting of an acceptance rate of only 3.4%, which others decried as a sign of failure, not success, in light of its huge endowment. Even public engineering universities promote how exclusive they are, with acceptance rates on the order of 20%. Of course, most students apply to many different schools, but taken on face value, that would mean that 80% of engineering students are rejected.

    ❏ Generate interest in STEM by harnessing excitement of VTOL to increase the pipeline ❏ Increase diversity outreach ❏ Highlight underrepresented talent to attract potential candidates ❏ Improve inclusivity to retain diverse employees ❏ All of the above!   Winning the War for Talent ❏ Increase university funding for VTOL engineering are being turned away? Universities should invest in attracting (and retaining) additional faculty, which drives how many students can be accepted. Many engineering schools are doing better than in the past, but still have fewer than 30% women in their freshman classes, and even fewer students from “underrepresented racial minorities.” This is an issue — but also an opportunity. Clearly, for 1,000 additional engineers to enter the VTOL workforce every year, something must be done to increase the pipeline. It’s not just diverting existing engineers to vertical flight, it’s about attracting untapped sources for new students. A 2018 study published in the Journal of STEM Outreach (available on the VFS Workforce page) highlights the potential for developing STEM programs in rural communities. Another key area that may be overlooked for its potential is the American South. Due to historical discrimination against women and people of color in the US — particularly of African Americans — these groups remain sparce in engineering. Aerospace is one of the least diverse industries, which further discourages underrepresented groups from pursuing a career in aviation. People will not be what they cannot see. Highlighting diverse talent in vertical flight can be a catalyst to spark interest in broader groups that may have previously overlooked VTOL as an unattainable career field. Government and industry must do more to meet the needs of the future vertical lift industry, specifically in inspiring and supporting less-represented demographics to enter vertical flight. More outreach is needed to encourage and support these potential engineers to follow STEM careers. Of course, once in the workforce, inclusion and empowerment of women and people of color is essential to retaining diverse talent. However, that’s a discussion for next time. All of the Above Addressing the talent crisis requires an “all-of-the-above” approach. Industry, academia and government must invest more time and money into long-term payoffs of increasing the overall production of engineering talent, as well as taking the steps necessary to foster diversity and inclusion in the workplace. The only way to win the war for talent is if everyone works together to increase the long-term talent pipeline.

May / June 2021

How can we meet the demands of the future vertical workforce if so many candidates for engineering programs

What do you think? Let me know at director@vtol.org.

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THE VERTICAL FLIGHT SOCIETY LeadershipMoves

of the Board for over 13 years. During this time, Kaman had grown, evolved and established itself as a leading manufacturer of engineered products serving the aerospace and defense, industrial and medical end- markets. Walsh joined the company in September 2020; he will jointly serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and CEO. Prior to this role, Walsh

Ricci Moretti Moves to Lilium Luigi Ricci Moretti became the chief engineer for Lilium in January, where he is responsible for the overall technical development of the Lilium Jet. Ricci Moretti was most recently the chief engineer for air vehicle design at Piasecki Aircraft Corporation, leading the development of the PA-890 electric compound helicopter

for three-and-a-half years. Prior to that, he was an engineer at AgustaWestland (now Leonardo) from 1998–2017; his last tours were as Chief Project Engineer for Special Research Projects — including the world’s first electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) demonstrator, Project Zero — and chief engineer for the Next Generation Civil TiltRotor.

served as Chief Operating Officer at REV Group, Inc., a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of specialty vehicles and related aftermarket parts and services. Prior to this, Walsh worked at Textron, where he most recently served as President and CEO of TRU Simulation and Training. After seven years as an officer in the US Marine Corps, Walsh’s career with Textron began in 1999 as Director of Marketing at Bell Helicopter. He progressed through leadership roles at Textron, including Senior Vice President and General Manager of Lycoming Engines, and Senior Vice President and General Manager of Textron’s Weapon & Sensor Systems business. Corporate Advisors Electric Power Systems (EPS) announced in March that Scott Drennan was joining its Board of Directors in an observing and advising role. Drennan is the CEO of Drennan Innovation, an engineering and leadership consulting company focused on the air mobility industry. He previously served as Chief Research and Development Officer for Hyundai’s Urban Air Mobility division, after 26 years at Bell. The EPS board includes EPS co-founders Nathan Millecam (Chief Executive Officer) and Randy Dunn (Chief Strategy Officer), as well as representatives from Boeing HorizonX Ventures and Safran Ventures. Meanwhile, Uber Elevate co-founders Nikhil Goel and Mark Moore announced in March that they were part of Archer Aviation’s advisory board. They did not transition when Joby Aviation acquired the Elevate business unit from Uber in January. Prior to Uber, Moore spent 32 years at NASA focusing on advanced aircraft concepts and technologies, with the last pioneering distributed electric propulsion (DEP). Goel is a serial startup co-founder, advisor and investor. Both Moore and Goel have since founded new startups that are currently still in stealth. Archer’s March filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission stated that the company’s three executive officers (as of the end of 2020) were Brett Adcock and Adam Goldstein, listed as co-CEOs, and Tom Muniz, VP Engineering.

Dufour Appoints Hardegger as CCO In March, Visp, Switzerland-based Dufour Aerospace appointed Sascha Hardegger as the company’s Chief Commercial Officer. Hardegger arrives from Swiss Air-Rescue Rega, where he worked as Head of Communications (2009–2015), Head of Helicopter Operations (2016–2020) and Director of the Innovation Program

(since April 2020). Four years ago, Hardegger started Rega’s ambitious drone project aiming to develop a highly automated intervention drone and multiple support applications dedicated to finding missing persons in alpine areas. Dufour is targeting its aEro 3 eVTOL tiltwing aircraft for the medical supply transportation and emergency medical services (EMS) markets. In April, Dufour also secured an undisclosed amount of additional funding from session.vc and existing investors to help take the aircraft into pre-production and certification. Kaman’s Keating Succeed by Walsh Kaman Corporation announced in April that Neal J. Keating, Chairman of the Board of Directors retired in accordance with a previously announced transition plan. Kaman President and CEO, Ian K. Walsh, was appointed as Chairman. Keating had served as the Kaman Chairman

May / June 2021

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Technology for modern aviation

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THE VERTICAL FLIGHT SOCIETY Industry Briefs

Three New Turkish Attack Helicopters

radar warning receivers and various electronic warfare systems. The T129 has been in service since 2014. Turkish Aerospace has produced more than 60 examples, which have accrued more than 30,000 flight hours.

AW609 AC4 Tiltrotor Moved to Italy The fourth AW609 (AC4), which is fully representative of the final production configuration, was shipped from Leonardo’s Philadelphia facility, where it was built on its tiltrotor production line, to Genoa harbour in Italy. There it was offloaded and later flew to Leonardo Helicopters’ headquarters in Cascina Costa di Samarate, close to Milan- Malpensa Airport, arriving on March 2. The aircraft will remain there to support the final stage of program testing ahead of civil certification. The AC4 transfer to Italy allows Leonardo to maintain production-representative aircraft both in the US and Italy, as the first prototype (AC1) is now solely used for ground-based and load testing. Later, AC4 will also allow customer-dedicated demonstration activities for European operators and other potential users worldwide, mirroring similar activities to be carried out by aircraft in the US for customers in the Americas and elsewhere. The transfer of AC4 to Italy brings the program to the next market-oriented stage. The industrialization, customer service and training service of the AW609 program is intensifying in Philadelphia through the new training academy and new final assembly hangar. The new academy opened in April and is part of Leonardo’s new $80M investment in US operations that will provide training services for pilots, cabin crews and maintenance technicians for the AW119, AW169 and AW139 models across North and South America, as well as for global customers of the AW609.

T629 Prototype

Turkish Aerospace has unveiled two new attack helicopter prototypes. On Feb. 25, the company displayed the T629 prototype, a 13,300-lb (6-t) derivative of the company’s 11,000-lb (5-t) T129 ATAK — itself an indigenous variant of the Leonardo A129 Mangusta. The T629 was shown as a black, cockpitless demonstrator at the company’s main campus in Kazan, Ankara, Turkey. At the event, it was stated for the first time that the T629 would be unmanned and electric, but not further explained; speculation is that there will also be a manned version.

T929 Mockup

50 Years of Lynx

The company previously stated that the T629 uses the drive system of the 6-tonne civil T625 (see “Turkey Serves Up 8th ARF, Establishes VFS Chapter,” Vertiflite ¸ Jan/ Feb 2020), and that the T629 would be a demonstrator to give the company experience with developing its planned 22,000-lb (10-t) ATAK II indigenous heavy attack helicopter, now designated the T929. A mock-up of the ATAK II was displayed in 2019 (photo shown taken by CeeGee), explaining that it would be twice the weight of the T129 ATAK. In March, the company announced that the T929 would use two 2,500-shp (1,860-kW) engines from Ukraine (i.e. from Motor Sich Joint Stock Company) and was said to fly in 2023. In addition to the 10-t T929 ATAK II, the company is also developing the 10-t T925 General Purpose Helicopter, with significant component commonality with the T929; it is expected to fly in 2025. Meanwhile, Turkish Aerospace has begun delivering T129 ATAK Phase II helicopters to the country’s Land Forces Command and the Turkish National Police. The Phase II version upgrades the T129 with laser warning receivers,

On March 21, 1971, the yellow Westland Lynx prototype (XW835) took off from Yeovil, South Somerset, UK. The now-iconic aircraft piloted by chief test pilot Ron Gellatly completed two short flights of 10 and 20 minutes,

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VSR700 Gathers Speed; Additional Orders

respectively. His deputy, Roy Moxam, occupied the co- pilot’s seat and Dave Gibbings flew as the flight test engineer, responsible for instrumentation management, stress data monitoring, and back-up observations. More than 500 aircraft followed, serving operators worldwide. Nine customers still fly the aircraft today for missions such as anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, battlefield, search and rescue, coastal protection and light utility. Current operators of Lynx variants include the Brazilian Navy, Royal Malaysian Navy and South African Defence Force. The Lynx evolved into the Super Lynx and then into today’s Leonardo Wildcat, which has been in production since 2009 and serves with the British Army, Royal Navy, Philippine Navy and Republic of Korea Navy. UK Puma Replacement Generates Interest The recent UK Defence Command Paper outlined the British government’s intend to withdraw the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) Puma fleet from service in 2023, replacing it with an off-the- shelf platform, designated as the New Medium Helicopter (NMH). Janes.com reported on a number of company’s offered solutions. Leonardo would produce the AW149 in Yeovil if selected; interestingly, Boeing is considering the smaller MH-139, which Leonardo produces as the AW139, while Bell said its super-medium-twin 525 Relentless would be an “ideal aircraft” for the NMH requirement. Airbus is proposing to develop a military derivative of its H175 super- medium, a joint development with Avicopter; FlightGlobal quoted a spokesperson as saying it would not be a problem to replace the Chinese content. In addition to retiring the 23 Westland-Aerospatiale (now Leonardo and Airbus) Puma HC2 helicopters by 2025, the UK Ministry of Defence would divest its Airbus Dauphins flown by the RAF and Army Air Corps, and its Bell 212 and 412 helicopters operated by the RAF. Longer term, the UK government is participating in NATO Next Generation Rotorcraft Capabilities (NGRC) studies (see “NATO Plans Next-Generation Medium Rotorcraft For 2035,” Vertiflite , March/April 2021). Ospreys Fly 600,000 Hours Bell announced on March 24 that the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey had exceeded 600,000 flight hours, with a fleet of more than 400 aircraft. The tiltrotor is operated by the US Marine Corps, US Air Force, US Navy and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. Recent program accomplishments include the Osprey’s latest variant, the CMV-22B, completing their first delivery of an F-35 engine to the USS Carl Vinson, along with successful paradrops with the US Navy’s parachuting team, “The Leap Frogs,” earlier in the year. In April, an MV-22B Osprey test aircraft conducted its inaugural landing on the new and improved flight deck of USNS hospital ship Mercy.

In late March, Airbus tested its unmanned VSR700 demonstrator to 60 kt (more than 110 km/h), opening its low-speed flight envelope, after it accumulated more than 10 flight hours. The VSR700 is derived from the two-seat Hélicoptères Guimbal’s Cabri G2. The program commenced in 2018 and performed the first autonomous free flight in July 2020. Airbus plans to continue expanding the flight test envelope towards its goal of providing the French Navy with the capability for an at-sea demonstration. The next step towards this will be to upgrade the prototype with a complete operative mission system, with additional tests at the end of this year. Meanwhile, the French Armament General Directorate (DGA) ordered a second VSR700 prototype eight as well as eight additional H225Ms for the French Air and Space Force. This order was part of a stimulus plan to support the national aeronautical industry announced by the French government last year. For Airbus Helicopters, the plan also includes an order for two H145s for the Sécurité Civile and 10 H160s for the French Gendarmerie Nationale. Helijet Reaches Flight Milestone Canadian operator Helijet recently surpassed 47,000 safe flying hours with a Sikorsky S-76A helicopter (Serial no. 760074, C-GHJW), a milestone that marks the highest flight time in any S-76A aircraft. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, HeliJet operates North America’s largest scheduled helicopter service. This achievement results from a flight time average of 120 hours every month for almost 400 months running. “This record-making achievement speaks very highly of the professionalism and dedication of the entire Helijet team,” said Jeanette Eaton, Sikorsky VP, Worldwide Strategy and Business Development, on April 6. Testing Jolly Green IIs The US Air Force completed its developmental test program of its new combat search and rescue helicopter, the HH- 60W Jolly Green II, at Eglin Air Force Base on April 13. The final test by the Sikorsky and Air Force team was on the aircraft’s weapons systems to demonstrate the performance

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THE VERTICAL FLIGHT SOCIETY Industry Briefs

of the weapons while also optimizing weapon-system configurations. The test efforts began May 2019 with the first HH-60W flight. The integrated test team accumulated more than 1,100 flight test hours across six aircraft testing the full spectrum of aircraft systems. Some of the notable developmental tests included aircraft performance, communications systems, environmental tests at McKinley Climatic Lab, aerial refueling, data links, defensive systems, cabin systems, rescue hoist and live- fire of three weapons systems. The test aircraft will be modified for operational use before being transferred to their respective Air Force rescue unit. The Jolly Green II’s developmental test mission will move to the Combat Search and Rescue Combined Test Force for follow-on testing at Nellis AFB, Nevada, in 2022. Chinook Block II Delivers According to DefenseNews.com , Boeing has begun delivering MH-47G Block II Chinooks to the US Special Operations Command. As of mid-April, two of the 24 cargo helicopters had already been delivered. Meanwhile, CH-47F Block II testing with the Advanced Chinook Rotor Blades (ACRB) has proven an additional 2,500 lb (1.1 metric tons) of lift. Testing last year had found unacceptable vibrations on the ground and in flight, though the vibrations are not a safety of flight risk (see “Bad Vibrations—ACRB Development Continues,” Vertiflite , March/April 2021) and this is being addressed. The -F Block II had flown 450 hours by mid-April with ACRBs installed. Although the Army had sought to terminate the -F Block II program in order to fund development and fielding of Future Vertical Lift (FVL), Congress has continued to fund the program. “At this time, we really see no technical or programmatic challenges standing in the way of rewarding the Lot 1 production contract this fiscal year,” Heather McBryan, Boeing’s director of global sales and marketing, told DefenseNews.com. of the Kopter Group AG (originally called Marenco Swisshelicopter), Leonardo Helicopters rebranded the Kopter SH09 single-engine helicopter as the Leonardo AW09, and provided updates on the program. The third prototype (P3) has now logged more than 40 flight hours in Switzerland since mid-January in its new configuration. This includes enhancements in the main rotor head, gearbox, an extended rotor mast and a new design of the flight controls, combined with the modern Garmin G3000H cockpit. These changes have brought improved flight characteristics, performance and ease of maintenance. The next prototype, PS4, is expected to fly this year to begin certification testing, followed by the PS5. The AW09 will continue to be developed by Kopter in Switzerland by the joint Leonardo-Kopter team, but Leonardo AW09 and What Comes After On April 21, one year after it completed the acquisition

the primary production line will be at Leonardo’s plant in Vergiate, Italy. The planned US production plant in Lafayette, Louisiana, is said to be under review, according to FlightGlobal.com. In March, the company announced that the aircraft would enter into service in late 2022 or early 2023. At the press briefing for the announcement, Leonardo Helicopters’ chief technology officer Matteo Ragazzi stated that the company intended to use the AW09 as a hybrid- electric testbed for a potential future hybrid-electric- powered light helicopter.

Robinson Delivers 13,000th Helicopter

On April 23, Robinson Helicopter delivered its 13,000th helicopter, an R44, to SKY Helicopters of Dallas, Texas. A dealer since 1996, this latest acquisition puts SKY’s Robinson fleet at 27. The company was founded in 1973 by Frank Robinson and delivered its first groundbreaking two- seat R22 in 1979. Now headed by his son, Kurt Robinson, the company has delivered nearly 5,000 of its piston-powered R22s and 7,000 of its four-seat R44s, plus more than 1,000 five-seat R66 Turbines.

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THE VERTICAL FLIGHT SOCIETY Coming to Terms

TRL vs. Readiness By Daniel I. Newman

applicability. Exploration and validation of the rest of the design space is still required, and this long slog to the corners of the operational envelope is expensive and boring. It is referred to as the Valley of Death, into which many promising technologies have fallen. It is typically hard to find sponsorship to cross this Valley, with cost rising exponentially along each TRL step. The Valley is littered with good ideas. But TRL alone is incomplete in assessing the multiple dimensions of technology that affect the ability to successfully transition. It fails to provide insight into the integration between technologies or the maturity of the whole system. To address producibility, the Pentagon developed the Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL), from 1 “Basic manufacturing implications identified” to 10 “Full-rate production demonstrated and lean production practices in place.” The TRL and MRL are valuable, but still a broad range of metrics that are critical to successful application are not formally addressed, including durability (reliability, environmental vulnerability), supportability (inspectability, maintainability/repairability), user acceptability, sustainability, affordability and — perhaps most significant for the emerging electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft market — regulatory approvability. In 2006, Stevens Institute of Technology developed Integration Readiness Levels (IRLs) — from Level 0 “No integration” to 9 “System integration is proven through successful mission-proven operations capabilities” — and System Readiness Levels (SRLs), with SRL 1 “System alternative materiel solutions should have been considered” to 9 “System has achieved initial operational capability and can satisfy mission objectives.” Together, the IRL and SRL indices can be used to determine the readiness of systems with numerous technologies, components and integrations. These additional metrics from the systems engineering community add breadth to the maturity assessment of a technology, but they still do not formally address the “ilities” listed above, so there remains a high risk of late discovery of a critical and perhaps crippling barrier to transition. A common misunderstanding of TRL is that it somehow measures value. Specifically, it is assumed that achieving TRL 6 (“Prototype system demonstrated in a relevant environment”) indicates it will continue to development and then production. In fact, TRL is only one measure of the level of understanding. Maturity does not indicate that the technology or approach is valuable, but only that it is better understood with less uncertainty in benefits and costs. Therefore, a decision must be made whether it should be used. While many technologies fail to transition because there is no sponsor to cross the Valley of Death, often it is because it isn’t as good as originally thought or claimed. This issue specifically applies to new configurations, as well as autonomy, aircraft electrification and more. So, it applies to eVTOL aircraft/advanced air mobility (AAM), Future Vertical Lift (FVL), Clean Sky 2 and most other efforts we, the vertical flight community, are engaged in. Using TRLs to characterize technology maturity is valuable, but must be done with the understanding that it is only one of many critical metrics, and only measures uncertainty and not value.

Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) were invented in the 1970s by NASA’s Stan Sadin to assist the agency’s space technology development process and to provide a tool to assist in communications between technologists and managers. TRL is a unidimensional scale, originally from Level 1 “Basic Principles Observed and Reported” to Level 7 “System Adequacy Validated in Space.” Over the years, it was refined by NASA’s John Mankins, adding Levels 8 and 9 to carry through mission operations, generalizing beyond space applications and adding a discussion for each level. The US Department of Defense started using TRLs in the early 2000s, and the US Air Force Research Laboratory’s William Nolte developed the TRL Calculator with more rigorous criteria for determining the TRL. The TRL scale characterizes maturation from science and technology (S&T), through research and development (R&D). Any new technology first relies on “science” that discovers the basic physics, rigorously validating and documenting the governing principles and properties. Science is assessed at TRLs 1–2, which ask “Do basic scientific principles support the concept?” Technology, TRLs 2–3, actively leverages these principles toward a specific purpose or performance metric. Technology is performed in isolation, in a controlled environment, to allow a full understanding of the impacts of key parameters (partial derivatives). Research, TRLs 4–6, then seeks to explore the technology in a particular application, characterizing the relevant features and factors in that domain. Research provides the information necessary for potential users to assess the net value of adopting the technology. Development moves a technology beyond TRL 6 and integrates with other maturing technologies to create a specific product or service. Maturing and demonstrating a technology is often done alone, with all other features and factors relying on robust understanding of the science. So, the other system elements in a research effort can be adjusted to accommodate the many needs of the “fragile” emerging technology, to achieve a successful demonstration (e.g. duct tape and putty in a wind tunnel test to get from TRL 4 to 5). Beware trying to mature multiple technologies together, though, as each is only understood within a narrow range; risk of success is amplified exponentially when multiple technologies must accommodate each other. Research is hard enough but maturing two “problem children” at once may prove insurmountable. Each step in the advancement of a technology is costly and takes time, as the breadth of the exploration widens and the number of factors to consider expands, and the requirement for the burden of proof rises exponentially with more sophisticated stakeholders with specific agendas to satisfy. The initial technology demonstration of a single point in the design space is very exciting and noteworthy, but should not be accepted out-of-hand as proof of This series addresses the uses of terminology that threaten to become routine expressions or idioms — or already are — but are misleading or erroneous. Here, we look at the misconception that a high TRL means a technology is ready for production.

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Rotorcraft Value Statistics % Market Share by Manufacturer 2021 - 2035

Sikorsky, 17.348%

NH Industries, 3.332% KAI, 3.19% Bell/Boeing, 1.927% All Others, 1.54% HAL, 1.305% Robinson Helicopter, 0.86% Subaru, 0.537%

Russian Helicopters, 15.303%

Airbus Helicopters, 13.7%

AVIC, 4.005%

Bell, 6.163%

Not Selected / Opportunity, 7.653%

Boeing, 11.725%

Leonardo, 11.411%

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