General Aviation Thread

[Ananda]

Russia Pulls Out Of The CR929 Widebody Program

6 years after the establishment of the joint venture CRAIC, Russia withdrew from the high-profile China-Russia CR929 project.

simpleflying.com

Russian UAC officialy say they are pulling out from the program as partner but retain involvements with the program as supplier. Russia and China already been talk having disagreement on program especialy on the scope of Western Suppliers involvements.

Seems they make a deal that Russia out as partner, thus provide China flexibilities on dealing with Western Suppliers. However Russia keep involve as Supplier, which I suspect open for Non Western version, for market that are averse to Western supliers.

In meantime Russia seems asside for their Regional Sukhoi Jet and MC-21 also keep building TU-204 and IL-96 upgrade with new engine and better avionics.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

CFMI announced that 68 of its CFM56 engines contain fake parts, which were provided by the British AOG Technics (remarkable name btw). CFMI tries to trace these 68 CFM56s which are somewhere flying around at this planet, together with EASA.

Fabrikant CFM vindt neponderdelen in 68 vliegtuigstraalmotoren

CINCINNATI - Fabrikant van straalmotoren CFM International meldt dat 68 van zijn motoren vervalste onderdelen van het louche Britse bedrijf AOG Technics bevatten. Het gaat om CFM56-motoren die gemonteerd zijn op type vliegtuigen die het grootste deel uitmaken van de mondiale vloot. Eerder meldde...

www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl

An Airbus A320neo from Air China with registratie B-305H and flightnumber CA403 had to make an emergency landing last Sunday (yesterday) during a flight from Chengdu to Singapore.

The reason for the emergency landing is because of a fire in engine #1 (the left engine). The cause of the fire is unknown, but a lot of smoke started to fill the cabin. Flight CA403 had 146 passagiers and 9 crewmembers on board.

The A321-271N with PW 1133G turbofans was quite new and delivered to Air China in January 2019.

In beeld: motor A320neo vat vlam, toestel ontruimd

CHENGDU - Een Air China-vlucht van Chengdu naar Singapore heeft zondag een noodlanding gemaakt op Changi Airport nadat de linkermotor van de Airbus A320neo in brand vloog. Negen mensen hebben lichte verwondingen opgelopen door het incident.

www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl

 

[Ananda]

Russian Airlines Order 18 MC-21 & 34 SJ-100 Aircraft From Rostec

Both airlines will grow their fleet by incorporating Russian-made aircraft.

simpleflying.com

This additional order is on top previous 300+ order that Russian Airlines already made for MC-21, SSJ-100, and Tu-214 (Tu-204NG). All with Non Western Version. The schedule so far push back two year to prepare Russian Engine, Avionics and Cabin Equipments to substitute Western ones (that previously sloted to be used).

Russia withdrawal from CR-929 program as Partner status to supplier ones seems also try to enhance their avionics industry place as suppliers. China C-919 and now C-929 still use significant portion of Western Suplliers. This is to raise their marketability in International market. However there will be part of International market that want to reduce Western supplies in Africa, South America and part of Asia.

Thus asside geopolitical necessity, there are also market need for Non Western Aero and Avionics alternatives. How this going to fare in overall industrial competitiveness remain to be seen.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

The Tu-204SM is equipped with the Soloviev PS-90A2 and the MC-21 is developed together with the PD-14, but the SSJ-100 has the Powerjet SaM146, which is 50% from Snecma. This takes undoubtly more than 2 years to develop a replacing type of engine for it.

Together with the fact that the production rate of civilian airliners from UAC is comparable with IPTN, the development progress will maybe go as fast as Venera-D's or S-75's development.

 

[Ananda]

Together with the fact that the production rate of civilian airliners from UAC is comparable with IPTN, the development progress will maybe go as fast as Venera-D's or S-75's development.

Yes that's the big 'if' in this Russian drive for import substitution in Civil Airliners. How to increase the production line. What they aim is something that USSR done in their heyday for their own Airliners. However they have capacities that now mostly being neglected and Russia need to spark it up again. Not also counting some portion of that capacities are in present day Ukraine.

So yes that's one of the big 'if' for this Russian ambitions. They need to replace all those hundreds Western Airliners fast. They have the design and products, but big 'if' on production capacities.

If UAC manage to do it, they can have niche market for that. Not something that can compete at par with Duopoly, but Aviation market analyst believe there's niche market for civilians airliners that UAC can play with. Especially with current geopolitics. Especially if UAC can sort out ego and differences with China CATIC. Both UAC and CATIC has to team up together if they're going to have chances against the Duopoly.

Then again it is still big 'if'.

 

[Ananda]

Ural Airlines Airbus A320 faces hydraulic problems, runs out of fuel, ends up in wheat field

On 12 September, a Ural Airlines Airbus A320 (registered RA-73805) operated domestic flight U61383 from Sochi to Omsk, Russia. During the flight, the

www.aviation24.be

Too soon to say what's the cause. However difficulties finding enough supply of spare parts can't be discounted as the problem. Russia being known also try asside find loop hole on Airbus and Boeing spare parts in grey market, also rumours try to reverse engineering some of the parts. It is known that Iran also doing it.

However those will not going to keep the Western Airliners to fly to 100% factory recommended service conditions . In the end Russia need to fasten Tu-214, MC-21, and SSJ-100 productions. That's the big 'if' question.

 

[swerve]

CFMI announced that 68 of its CFM56 engines contain fake parts, which were provided by the British AOG Technics (remarkable name btw). CFMI tries to trace these 68 CFM56s which are somewhere flying around at this planet, together with EASA.

Fabrikant CFM vindt neponderdelen in 68 vliegtuigstraalmotoren

CINCINNATI - Fabrikant van straalmotoren CFM International meldt dat 68 van zijn motoren vervalste onderdelen van het louche Britse bedrijf AOG Technics bevatten. Het gaat om CFM56-motoren die gemonteerd zijn op type vliegtuigen die het grootste deel uitmaken van de mondiale vloot. Eerder meldde...

www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl

I looked up the company, & it looked very much as if it was set up as a scam. LinkedIn profiles of staff (there were only a few) mostly had almost no contacts, which is very surprising, especially for people in sales & purchasing, & those people seemed to lack an internet presence other tham their LinkedIn profile, which is also surprising. Even I exist outside LinkedIn! So I looked at profile pictures, & guess what I found? Stock images, e.g. lifted from Shutterstock. Those staff don't exist. The head of QA, for example, whose profile picture was picked out of a sequence of photos of different facial expressions & gestures by an actor. The Chinese-named person who appeared to be no. 2 also had a profile picture from a set of generic photos of an actor.

Its HQ appears to be a serviced office. The company head called himself either British or Venezuelan. There's someone with the same name & date of birth (Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, 01 Feb 1988) listed in a suburb of Caracas. AOG Technics has had several changes of address since it was set up in 2015.

It may have been set up as a front for one or more factories, probably Chinese, making fake spare parts.

 

[Ananda]

9 COMAC Demo Planes Descend On Urumqi Airport Amid Xinjiang Tour

Xinjiang, the next focal point for COMAC's market?

simpleflying.com

Comac recently conduct month long demo operations in Xinjian for both ARJ21 and C919. Seems Comac want to shown potential customers in Central Asia for adaptability of both Airliners in Central Asia conditions.

Will be interesting also business model to sell the Airliners in Central Asia. So far both Airlines customers in SEA from Indonesia and Brunei have Chinese Shareholders. Will business model for China to basically invest in regional airlines before make each Airlines become operators, also going to be replicate ?

It is expensive business model, but effective way to introduce their airliners on certain market.

 

[Ananda]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02x5xMyC53JRmABwCr7q15w35Vjnh9EK2gAG3pDzNKzDZ18acCRv5gzq8QJFdf757Sl&id=100069653560671&mibextid=ZbWKwL

New Boeing office in Jakarta. Part of Boeing strategy to keep and enlarge their market in SEA/ASEAN region. My interest more on the type of Airliners that they seems focusing to market in Indonesia, 787-10 and 737-9.

I suspect this is realisation from Boeing that their 737-8 (Max 8) are lossing ground to A320 Neo. Perhaps due to marketing image (it is Max8 that give problem to overall Max program). I also suspect realisation that despite onslaught of A320 Neo, nobody in Indonesia that yet commit A321 Neo as much as A320 Neo.

Max 9 and 10 is the only thing that Boeing have in their arsenal to answer A321Neo but not enough on range for LR let alone XKR version of A321 Neo. Still there's market for larger capacity of single aisle, and that's seems what A321 Neo vs 737-9/10 going to battle it out. Max 9/10 still enough range for Indonesian domestics and regional thinners routes.

While 787-10 seems shown Indonesian airliners need for more Regional fat routes or large capacities domestics.

 

[Ananda]

Indonesia conducts first commercial flight using palm oil-blended jet fuel

Indonesia on Friday flew its first commercial flight using palm oil-blended jet fuel, as the world's biggest producer of the commodity pushes for wider use of biofuels to cut fuel imports.

www.reuters.com

Garuda Indonesia and Pertamina ( Petroleum State Owned company), manage to conduct first commercial flight using blended palm oil aviation fuel. This is part of move for more palm oil blended fuel in all transportations sectors. For land base fuel, it is already being used for several years.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

Indonesia conducts first commercial flight using palm oil-blended jet fuel

Indonesia on Friday flew its first commercial flight using palm oil-blended jet fuel, as the world's biggest producer of the commodity pushes for wider use of biofuels to cut fuel imports.

www.reuters.com

Garuda Indonesia and Pertamina ( Petroleum State Owned company), manage to conduct first commercial flight using blended palm oil aviation fuel. This is part of move for more palm oil blended fuel in all transportations sectors. For land base fuel, it is already being used for several years.

A good development.
Biofuel seems to create less polution and from every imported barrel of oil Pertamina can produce more AVTUR.
I wonder if Pertamina keeps this biofuel seperated or they will distrubute it via the underground Jet A-1 supply network in the near future.

Btw, it's funny that Reuters copy the "737-800NG" term, which is actually non-existing outside Indonesia.

 

[Ananda]

Stretched Ilyushin Il-96-400M carries out maiden flight

Russia's United Aircraft has carried out the maiden flight of its Ilyushin Il-96-400M, a stretched and modernised version of the four-engined airliner. The Il-96-400M - rolled out in the aerospace firm's corporate livery earlier this year - took off from Voronezh on 1 November for a 26min...

www.flightglobal.com

Russian "new" wide body Airliners IL-96-400M begin it's flying trial. Even with the concept of four engines, something that has been ditch by the duopolly. This will give complate range of revive Russian Airliners. From regional SSJ-100, Singgle Aisle MC-21 and TU-214, and now longer range transcontinental IL-96 400M.

This in the end become Russian effort to completely replace Airbus and Boeing Airliners in their inventory. It is also going to form choices for those who did not want and hindered to procured Airbus and Boeing. Still how this translate to time table remain to be seen. How long they can replace Duopolly Airliners in Russia remain to be seen. Also Russia UAC ambitions to becone alternatives.

 

[swerve]

It will give alternatives to Boeing & Airbus, but will they be competitive? I suspect the Il-96 will have higher fuel consumption, & what about reliability?

I think the Il-96 has four engines not by choice, but necessity. It looked as if was going to be shelved because airlines weren't interested, until Putin went mad & went to war, & Russian airlines stopped being able to buy western airliners.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

It will give alternatives to Boeing & Airbus, but will they be competitive? I suspect the Il-96 will have higher fuel consumption, & what about reliability?

I think the Il-96 has four engines not by choice, but necessity. It looked as if was going to be shelved because airlines weren't interested, until Putin went mad & went to war, & Russian airlines stopped being able to buy western airliners.

The amount of engines on an aeroplane is always chosen because of necessity, like on the 747, A340 or C-17.
Two instead of three or four engines make an aircraft more cost effective and fuel efficient, and because of that more attractive for the users. That's why there are plans to create an Il-96 variant with two PD-35 engines, but the problem is, as always, the lack of funds for the development.

 

[Ananda]

It will give alternatives to Boeing & Airbus, but will they be competitive?

As I put in my post, it will be give choices/alternative for Boeing and Airbus (long haul) for those who don't want and can't get. It will be very niche market, thus means very limited.

It will not be competitive on open market. But for that niche market, it can as this is more due to politics. However that market potentially can be increasing, especially due to Western politicians that increasingly meddling politics in the market.

PS-90 is not at par on efficiency with latest Western engine. However it is being used by both IL-96 and TU-214. Thus for those who want to build Non Western Airliners fleet, combination of TU-214 and IL-96 400M can provide fleet of long range and mid range choices. Chinese Airliners still using significant portion of Western equipment, Russia ones increasingly decoupling from Western equipment. Thus choices for those who want or has to avoid Western products.

New generation of Russian PD engines should close the gap on efficiency with Western counterparts. However despite the talk, the version for wide bodies (PD-35) depends much with Chinese willingness to used them on C929 as alternative choices. PD-8 (for SSJ 100) and PD-14 (for MC-21) more likely in my opinion to come in to production soon.

 

[ngatimozart]

As I put in my post, it will be give choices/alternative for Boeing and Airbus (long haul) for those who don't want and can't get. It will be very niche market, thus means very limited.

It will not be competitive on open market. But for that niche market, it can as this is more due to politics. However that market potentially can be increasing, especially due to Western politicians that increasingly meddling politics in the market.

PS-90 is not at par on efficiency with latest Western engine. However it is being used by both IL-96 and TU-214. Thus for those who want to build Non Western Airliners fleet, combination of TU-214 and IL-96 400M can provide fleet of long range and mid range choices. Chinese Airliners still using significant portion of Western equipment, Russia ones increasingly decoupling from Western equipment. Thus choices for those who want or has to avoid Western products.

Don't forget the Chinese COMAC airliner as well.

 

[Ananda]

Yes, put it already on my edited version. That's the problem, Russia resignation from CR929 program, from what I can gather on Chinese media and forums, due to different ideas on what CR929 should be.

Russia want it to become Non Western alternatives, thus using Russia and Chinese equipment only. While China still want to use Western equipment to make it more attractive in the market. It can be option that C929 (now call as UAC resign and COMAC move alone) can be build on both Western and Non Western options. However it will be costly, and don't see COMAC want to develop Non Western options yet. So for those who want to go with Non Western options, Russian ones more likely as choices.

 

[Terran]

The amount of engines on an aeroplane is always chosen because of necessity, like on the 747, A340 or C-17.
Two instead of three or four engines make an aircraft more cost effective and fuel efficient, and because of that more attractive for the users. That's why there are plans to create an Il-96 variant with two PD-35 engines, but the problem is, as always, the lack of funds for the development.

era of technology is an important aspect here as is role. C17 is a military transport it as such operates in a different performance envelope focused more on Short take offs heavy mass than fuel economy and commercial maintenance costs.
A340 is more apt however both A340 and Il96 are Anachronisms.
By the time they first took to the skies, ETOPS 180 was in effect green lighting the rise of the twin jet to take the transoceanic flight domain with jets like the 757, 767, 777, A330 pushing the Quads to the boneyards.
A340 was a strange business choice, one that in retrospect like the A380 should have not been green lit. They used underpowered engines to build it when they should have just built more A330s.

IL96 was the last of the Soviet civil aviation system. An evolution of the IL86. Its engines dictated the number for it and those the PD90 are themselves relics of the Soviet Union.
Il96 is a jet that never stood a chance. I mean for a long time the single largest user of the Il96 was the Russian President.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

Last month on 30 October 2023, COMAC delivered the first two ARJ21-700s that have been converted into freighters. The ARJ21-700(F) has a payload of up to 10 tonnes with a maximum range of a bit over 2700 kilometers, capabilities comparable with the DC-9, an airliner designed in the '60s.

First ARJ21-700(F)s delivered

First ARJ21-700(F)s delivered On 30 October 2023, COMAC delivered the first two ARJ21-700s that have been converted into freighters. The aircraft involved are B-3388 (109), destine...

www.scramble.nl

 

[swerve]

The amount of engines on an aeroplane is always chosen because of necessity, like on the 747, A340 or C-17.
Two instead of three or four engines make an aircraft more cost effective and fuel efficient, and because of that more attractive for the users. That's why there are plans to create an Il-96 variant with two PD-35 engines, but the problem is, as always, the lack of funds for the development.

Necessity in that they don't have access to engines powerful enough to only need two, because of Putin's invasion of Ukraine, so they have to fit four. PD-35 isn't ready for fitting to airliners yet, & as you say, development (both of the engine & to modify the aircraft) needs money.