It's Saturday November 11th and here is Aviation Weekly #17.
In this edition:
1.
Advanced Hybrid Aircraft's Patroller 3 airship concept.
2.
London City Airport celebrates 30 years of commercial flying.
3.
RAF Valley's future secure for next 25 years as restoration work is completed.
4.
Could Los Angeles have its own flying taxi service by 2020?
Hello, my name is Ben Lovegrove and here is this week's round-up of aviation news from
high altitude to below 400 feet.
Each week I bring you selected stories in the worlds of airlines, flight training, aviation
history, drones and UAV.
Head over to Redspan.com to find out how I can make marketing videos for your aviation
business.
So chocks away then.
1.
Advanced Hybrid Aircraft Ltd has prepared the design of a novel and affordable hybrid
aircraft named Patroller 3, or simply P3.
This aircraft can fly low and slow, or alternatively can dash at higher airspeed and altitude in
pursuit of a land or sea target.
The purchase and maintenance costs are affordable, whilst the operating costs will be much less
than those of current manned aircraft and rotorcraft.
The energy-saving P3 can loiter at low power for as many as three days over a site of interest
(a bay, border crossing, or sea-lane).
At cruise power setting, on three engines, the endurance of 30 hours is suitable for
quickly scanning a border or coastline.
For more information visit www.patrollerairships.com.
2.
On 26 October 1987, a flight carrying around 40 passengers touched down from Plymouth in
East London, on the peninsula between Royal Albert Dock and King George V Dock.
It was the first commercial flight to land at London City Airport.
The first arrival, operated by Brymon Airways, was followed by a Eurocity Express service
from Brussels, both using De Havilland Dash 7 aircraft.
So it's now 30 years since the airport’s first commercial flights.
To mark the milestone, the airport has published seven updated artist’s impressions of the
airport’s exterior, illustrating what the transformed airport will look like after the
£400m City Airport Development Programme.
A free exhibition is now open on Jubilee Place in Canary Wharf entitled "London City Airport:
30 Years in Photographs".
3.
The future of RAF Valley in Anglesey, Wales is now secure after restoration work on the
runways was completed in September.
The station is primarily used for advanced fast jet training for pilots and, whilst the
previous infrastructure was strong enough for the Hawk aircraft, it has been restored
to support pilots training in the likes of Tornados and Typhoons.
The existing runway was ageing and so a £20 million contract was awarded to refurbish
it as well as the link taxiways in addition to providing a new section airside perimeter
road, new visual aids, aeronautical lighting and signage.
It will extend the life of the runway by a further 25 years, demonstrating the UK’s
commitment to Defence in Wales.
4.
In Aviation Weekly #6 we reported on the development of the Volocopter design and speculated on
the day when we'd all be able to hail an aero taxi.
Well, Uber has a project that plans to put VTOL "Vertical Take-off and Landing" aircraft
in the skies above Los Angeles by 2020.
The white paper on this subject is entitled "Fast-Forwarding to a Future of On-Demand
Urban Air Transportation" and is available for download on www.uber.com/info/elevate.
There are of course many challenges to overcome; safety, battery power, vehicle efficiency
to name a few.
However, all innovations start like this and given enough time and resources all these
obstacles can be removed.
Within a few years there really could be an affordable, efficient low altitude taxi service
in major cities around the world.
Imagine stepping out on to the pavement not to get into a minicab and sit in a traffic
jam, but to be lifted a few hundred feet into the air and reach your destination in minutes.
The future is in the skies.
That's all for this edition of Aviation Weekly so subscribe to my channel for the next and
to catch up on any you've missed.
This was a Redspan Solutions production.
Head over to Redspan.com to find out how I can make marketing videos for your aviation
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