China taking flight: COMAC C919

I honestly do not believe that the C919 will get FAA certified anytime soon. Maybe in the future it could be possible but if you look back at COMAC's (commercial aircraft corporation of China) earlier aircraft you will see that it is highly unlikely unless they really put forth the work. In a bid to challenge aviation giants Airbus and Boeing, China embarked on an ambitious mission to build their own aircraft, the COMAC C919 for civilian service. The COMAC C919 is the second aircraft model that is being built by the company with the first being the ARJ21 Advanced Regional Jet. (Powell, 2015) Currently, the Chinese are having difficulty with the certification of their regional jet, the ARJ21-700 which entered service this past June and has not received any FAA certifications. With its current specifications, the ARJ-21 failed to receive FAA certification which severely limits its markets as it can't be flown in the U.S. Some believe that the FAA is taking their time in the certification process because of political and economic issues between the FAA and the CAAC (Gavindasamy & Miller, 2015). Although there has been setbacks, according to some emails the FAA was reported to have said that, “The FAA enjoys a good working relationship with CAAC and will continue to work together to develop a path to work towards certification of the derivative model of the ARJ-21 and, possibly, the C919.” (Govindasamy and Miller, 2015) Even though there are difficulties with the manufacturing process, the FAA, “Could certify an airplane after it enters service if it can be shown to comply with all relevant airworthiness and manufacturing standards.” (Govindasamy and Miller, 2015) So it will not be anytime soon, if they do get FAA certified, it will be down the road in a few more years possibly.

Let’s say that by chance China is able to get certified by the FAA, I do not think that it will take off with the major airlines right away. According to a report by China National Radio in June predicted that C919 was likely to be priced at £32 million (US$50 million), which was up to 30 per cent cheaper than a Boeing 737 or an Airbus 320. (Mailonline, 2015) Now with the price of the aircraft I can see it being desirable for regional carriers or a company interested in starting up a 121 operation. I think the majors will hold off due to the fact that they would have to send their pilots to china, they would have to get all systems and the ops specs and MELS in English, it would be more pain then it is worth since already having Boeing and Airbus aircraft at their disposal. Now when you think of China, or things that are “Made in China,” you automatically think cheap, a knock off from the real deal. You go to china and spend 100 on a Rolex and then you think, “oh wait a minute? How does a Rolex cost so little?” Next thing you know it breaks in a week. So I think when the American population realize that our aircraft are coming from China they may hesitate in purchasing a ticket. So I think that Major airlines will wait and see how the airplane is for a certain number of years see how regional carriers operate it, if it is used in the US at all. 135 carriers might even try to get in on the aircraft and try and convert them into cargo planes to save cost on purchasing any 737s or 747s. So if they are introduced into the market with Airbus or Boeing then they are going to really step up their game.

Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC) is a state-owned limited liability company, which is formed with the approval of the State Council and jointly invested by State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) and was established on May 11, 2008 in Shanghai, China. Since they are owned by the government it means also that COMAC is all funded by China and so is the rest of the Chinese airlines so I believe there is a good relationship there. COMAC has the ARJ-21 which is a 90 passenger jet that made its' first flight commercial flight on June 28, 2016.

In my search through Google I have not really found anything on Airbus or Boeing responding about COMAC’s aircraft. I believe that is due to the fact that they know that it will not be much of a threat.

Refrences:

Govindasamy, S., Miller, M. (2015, October 21). Exclusive: china-made regional jet set for delivery, but no U.S. certification. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-aircraft-arj21-exclusive-idUSKCN0SF2XN20151021

COMAC. (n.d.). Company profile Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. Retrieved October 27, 2016, from http://english.comac.cc/aboutus/introduction/

Powell, S. (2015, November 9). China’s COMAC C919 aircraft running behind schedule – First commercial flight not before 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2016, from http://loyaltylobby.com/2015/11/09/chinas-comac-c919-aircraft-running-behind-schedule-first-commercial-flight-not-before-2019/#disqus_thread

Commercial Space Industry

April 12th, 1961 was the biggest day in the space race. Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space after making a 108-minute orbital flight in the Vostok 1 Spacecraft. (Jim Wilson, NASA) Shortly after this and two months later an American went up into space, Pam Am Airlines decides to start selling tickets for a trip to space. Customers were placed on a waiting list and the ‘First Moon Flights’ Club was born – attracting more than 93,000 members over the next two decades” (Pan Am and the waiting list). Most space travel that has been done so far has been by the wealthy and private companies who would take Russian rockets to the International Space Station. The last private trip was in 2009 by a wealthy Canadian name Guy Laliberte, who went to space by the company SpaceAdventures. (Taylor Dinerma, Observer. 2015) The most promising I woud have to say would be the work that Virgin Galactic is doing, who is working pretty hard to make the dream a reality. Only 557 people have been to space and Virgin Galactic has been working to make it a reality; well for $250,000 a seat that is.  (Virgin Galactic, Fly with us.)

The U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, was passed November 16, 2015.  Which later got renamed to Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015. Which allows The US citizens to engage in the commercial exploration and exploitation of space resources. (SPACE Act of 2015.) This rule gives the companies conducting these space flights time to learn and if they do go up into space that it’s their own risk and that the government is not responsible.

I can see the Commercial space industry becoming more accessible to the public in about 20 years. We have come a long way since 1961, but even with the technology we have now and the test flights that are being done. I believe that companies still need to keep studying and understand as much as possible. It would be nice to one day to be able to go up to a ticket counter like you would do for any Airline and be able to purchase a ticket to go into space.

So in order to be qualified to be a pilot or to work in this field there are some pretty strict rules. For Virgin Galactic these requirements are as follow:

• U.S. citizenship.
• A current FAA commercial  pilot license and FAA medical clearance.
• Degree-level qualification in a relevant technical field.
• Graduate of a recognized test pilot school, with at least two and a half years of postgraduate flight test experience.
• Diverse flying background with a minimum of 3,000 hours flying, to include considerable experience of large multi-engine aircraft and high-performance fast jet aircraft and low lift-to-drag experience in complex aircraft.
• Operational experience in an aerospace aviation project or business.
• Preference given to those with experience in spaceflight, commercial flight operations or flight instruction(“Dozens apply for space pilot jobs”, 2011).

If you are not a pilot and wish to do something else, if you are an A&P, or mechanical Engineer, Electrician, Avionics, any metal or material expert you could probably find a job.

Refrences:

Dozens apply for space pilot jobs. (2011, April 13). Retrieved from

            http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/04/13/6466987-dozens-apply-for-space-pilot-

            jobs

Pan Am and the waiting list for the moon…. (n.d.). Retrieved from

            http://backstoryradio.org/2013/08/19/pan-am-and-the-waiting-list-for-the-moon/

Fly with Us. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.virgingalactic.com/human-spaceflight/

            fly-with-us/

Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space ((2011, April 13). Retrieved from

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/sts1/gagarin_anniversary.html

2016 Could Be the Year Space Tourism Takes Off: Taylor Dinerman (2015, September 22) Retrieved from

                http://observer.com/2015/09/2016-could-be-the-year-space-tourism-takes-off/

                                                                                                                                                                                           

The Current Status of UAV's

UAV’s are getting more popular day by day and they are also getting more advanced. I remember when you just had the little remote control helicopters and you could barely get those off the ground. Now you have drone companies such as DJI, that have come out with drones that fly to 400 feet, fly by gps, able to hover and take amazing shots with the 720p or 4k cameras. UAV’s are currently being used in the civilian sector for Ariel photography for real estate, weddings, they are using UAV for drone racing and so much more.

UAVs are being highly regulated now, from registering your drone to the small UAS rule (14 CFR 107) if you want to fly commercially you have to get the FAA license. If flying for recreational then you have to fly in accordance with the FAA standards. (Unmanned Aircraft Systems, 2016)

Fly for Fun (knowbeforeyoufly)

Fly at or below 400 feet, keep your UAS within sight, never fly near other aircraft, especially near airports, never fly over groups of people, never fly over stadiums or sports events, never fly near emergency response efforts such as fires, never fly under the influence, be aware of airspace requirements, cannot weigh over 55lbs, and most importantly must be flown for Hobby or recreational use.

Small UAS rule 14 CFR part 107

Class G Airspace, LINE OF SIGHT, Must be flown under 400ft, Can only fly during the day, Cannot reach over 100mph, Must stay out of the way of other aircraft, and NO FLYING OVER PEOPLE

I do not think that UAVs will be integrated with NAS anytime soon, I mean maybe eventually it could be but for now, no. I believe it’s a no because with the limited range you have and how low altitude you have to be at, I think it would be more of a hassle to be trying to be in radio contact with ATC for the 20 minutes you’ll be flying your drone for. I think installing a transponder or ADS-B would be out of the question for now due to the operating system of the aircraft and the weight of the aircraft being 55lbs or under, unless they managed to integrate it inside the drone somehow and have it scaled down. I think the perception on drones is still 50/50 most people do not know the rules or regulations and they get nervous seeing it flying around or they think the government is spying on them.

When I was in the Army my unit had a few small UAS systems and we would train with them quite a bit. Some aspects they are used for are Security, Search and Rescue, Monitoring, communications, recon missions, and even munitions. With the military going into dangerous places like Iraq and Afghanistan and future deployment zones. UAS can help soldiers do recon missions and help them with their every day job and it will and has saved lives. So financially I believe it’s a smart move because you are saving cost down by saving soldier lives and they will also be able to get a job done quickly and be able to enter into areas in a safer secured way. So Ethical I believe that is does meet any ethical dilemmas.

UAS JOBS:

sUAS Commercial Pilot/Operator.: Aviation Unmanned

https://workforcenow.adp.com/jobs/apply/posting.html?client=4214&jobId=38604&source=IN

Position is for a UAS pilot position in Addison, TX

UAS Demonstration Pilot: Aviation Unmanned

https://workforcenow.adp.com/jobs/apply/posting.html?client=4214&jobId=38603&source=IN

UAS Operator: Airware

http://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=87ba7c36fc7e7169&q=Uas&tk=1av2o4mq7av0sa2g&from=web

Refrences:

RECREATIONAL USERS. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2016, from http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/for-recreational-users/

By The Numbers Air Traffic Plans and Publications Environmental Reviews Flight Information. (n.d.). Fly for Fun. Retrieved October 14, 2016, from http://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/fly_for_fun/

Cargo Industry and duty time, should they be exempt?

According to FARs 14 CFR Part 121 section 471 it states that no certificate holder conducting domestic operations may schedule any flight crew member and no flight crew member may accept an assignment for flight time in scheduled air transportation or in other commercial flying if that crew members total time in all commercial flying will exceed 1,000 hours in any calendar year, 100 hours in a calendar month, 30 hours in a 7-day time period, 9 hours between rest period. (14cfr121.471)

They say that many regulations that we have in the aviation industry are written in blood, so in a terrible way we can thank Colgan Air for the duty hours and regulations. If it was not for Colgan Air we would probably still have exhausted and over worked pilots and the risk for more accidents would be more likely to occur.

Cargo pilots are allowed to fly up to 8 hours (as opposed to 9 hours for passenger carriers under their rules) then legally must have a rest period.  In a situation where there are three crew members or more, cargo pilots may fly up to 12 hours.  While, cargo pilots may be on duty for 16 hours, under no circumstance do they ever fly 16 hours without rest.  There is a very big difference between being on duty and actual flight time flying the aircraft.  These are base line rules – the labor management contract allows for even more rest, but it’s specific to each all-cargo carrier.(Sen. Boxer)

I believe that when it comes to flying the general public believes that lives are more valuable compared to boxes of freight. Another reason is the financial aspect of it all. According to Linda Werfelman, "The FAA, however, said that that the cost of including cargo operators under the new rule would have been too great, compared with the benefits they would have likely received (2012). The FAA analyzed the cost of including cargo carriers in the rules and they said it would cost cargo carriers $306 million (CAA 2012). According to the Cargo Airline Association, the FAA ranged the benefits at $20.35 million to $32.55 million (2012). The costs of implementing the rules would really hurt the cargo industry whose operations are done 24/7. In addition to these financial numbers, the average hours per month at a cargo operation is 45.5 hours and the passenger carrier operation has an average of over 50 hours per month (CAA 2012).

Cargo is also a precious commodity due to freight needing to be delivered due to operations are always being ran 24/7. It would bring down production value due to lack of resources.

I believe that cargo operations should be able to follow different rules due to the fact that there is multiple crew members on board so they will be able to rotate and they are able to fly with different flight rules so it allows for them to fly different routes.

Also If I become a dispatcher for a 121 operation I do not really believe that it will have an impact on my career but if I do dispatch for a 135 operation and do the cargo side it might make job openings more scarce and competitive.

 

Resources

FAA Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs, 14 CFR).(nd). Retrieved October 08, 2016,

from http://www.flightsimaviation.com/data/FARS/part_121-471.html

Senator Barbara Boxer, April 13th 2016, retrieved from http://www.cargoair.org/2016/04/setting-the-record-straight-on-all-cargo-duty-and-rest-amendment/ on October 6th 2016

CAA. (2012, January 17). Flightcrew member duty and rest requirements. Retrieved October 07,  2016, from http://www.cargoair.org/2012/01/flightcrew-member-duty-rest-requirements/

Carroll, J. R. (2014, March 13). UPS pilots urge more rest for cargo crews. Retrieved October      07, 2016, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/13/ups-pilots-urge more-rest-for-cargo-crews/6402615