Textron introduces Beechcraft King Air 260

 The latest model in the popular Beechcraft turboprop series is officially in production!

Textron Aviation announced at VBACE 2020 that the Beechcraft King Air 260 is already in production for deliveries to begin in the first half of 2021.

The King Air 260 is the newest model in Textron's popular Beechcraft turboprop series. 

Like the King Air 360, which entered service in late October, features the integration of the Innovative Solutions & Support ThrustSense autothrottle into the flight deck. This feature accommodates acceleration and climb while operating with one single engine. The new models are also fitted with a digital pressurization controller and Collins Aerospace Multi-Scan RTA-4112 radar system for detecting short-, medium-, and long-range weather as part of a standard order.

The 260 has a range of 1,720 nm, with a max cruise speed of 310 KTAS. It can carry up to nine occupants, who can enjoy the newly designed cabin seats that use pressure-mapping process to increase comfort for longer flights.

“These investments reflect our commitment to providing superior upgrades and engineering innovation that create the best flying experience for Beechcraft King Air 260 owners and operators around the world,” said Ron Draper, president and CEO for Textron Aviation. 

"I’m proud of the impressive effort by our team for taking a legendary aircraft and adding technological advancements that will allow customers to achieve their varied missions.”

Nearly 7,600 King Airs have been delivered to date. With these technological upgrades, it's likely the King Air 260 will also contribute to the success of this series.

Airline travel has become increasingly difficult amid the COVID-19 pandemic, so private aviation is seeing a rise in popularity. Major airlines even cancelled flights because of pilot personnel shortages over the 2020 Thanksgiving holiday weekend, so more private charters will likely take fight this holiday season. 

The release of the newest King Air could not have come at a better time for people around the world looking for a more comfortable, safe option for long-range travel. It it bound to be one of the successful models of this pilot and passenger favorite aircraft line.

Navy Orders Second Batch of Training Helicopters

 The U.S. Navy ordered a second lot of Leonardo TH-73A training helicopters form the company's U.S. operation AgustaWestland in a $171.0 million contract. 

The contract modification provides for the production and delivery of 36 more TH-73As in support of the Advanced Helicopter Training System Program (AHTS).Fiscal 2021 funds were allocated for the contract modification.

Leonardo-built TH-73A (Photo Courtesy Leonardo)

Italy's Leonardo previously won a $176.5 million contract for the first 32 TH-73As, ordered at the beginning of the year. This award included initial spare parts, ancillary equipment, and support services, and specific pilot and maintenance training services.

The U.S. Navy said in January it expected to eventually buy up to 130 examples in total as part of a deal that could be worth up to $648 million.

"The new Leonardo TH-73A helicopters are the cornerstone of AHTS, which is the planned replacement to address the capability and capacity gaps of the current aging TH-57 Sea Ranger helicopter training platform,” U.S. Navy Captain Todd St. Laurent, the Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems  Program Manager said in a statement in January.

The TH 73-A will replace the Bell TH-57B/C SeaRanger helicopter at Training Air Wing Five at Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Florida. It will train future helicopter and tilt-rotor pilots for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

These new helicopters will ensure the Navy can train several hundred aviation students per year at Whiting Field.

TH-73A is a variant of the single engine Leonardo TH-119, a commercial helicopter previously sold for civilian use.

Deliveries of the first order are continuing through October 2021, while work on this second order of training helos is scheduled for completion in December 2022. 

A320 makes cargo debut with Qantas Freight

The most ordered commercial jet in history, the A320, made its cargo debut on Tuesday. Qantas Freight launched the converted A321 freighter into service in partnership with Australia Post.

The A321, leased to Qantas by Vallair, was converted by EFW in a joint venture between Airbus and ST Engineering and renamed the A321P2F to reflect its "Passenger to Freight" conversion.

The new freighter aircraft entered in service with Qantas Freighter (Photo Courtesy Vallair)

Suppliers and maintainers in the region will be seeing this new aircraft number pop up more often. Another 10 planes of the same type are being prepped for the conversion as well, marking a trend adapt older or retired passenger aircraft to the new function during a time when airline travel has taken a dip.

EFW expects the cargo market to be able to absorb about 1,000 A320 family units over the next 20 years.

For the A321P2F, EFW reinforced the floor of the main cabin, installed a wide door to allow cargo access and closed passenger windows to facilitate the new aircraft's use. 

Now, a converted A321P2F can carry up to 27 tons of cargo, which is 9 times more than the Boeing 737-300F Qantas currently uses. It can fly nonstop for 3,520 km (2187 miles).

“Given the outstanding performance of this freighter, we are confident that the A321P2F will be a game changer in the freighter market,” Chief Executive Officer of EFW Andreas Sperl said. 

EFW also offers the conversion of the A320 to A320P2F, which is capable of carrying 21 tons of cargo with a range of 3,890 km (2417 miles).

Many cargo airlines choose to use quality converted aircraft because they can gain the same amount of revenue without using an expensive production process, and the converted freighters meet the high dispatch reliability required of the industry.

When aircraft reach a certain service age, and have completed its useful operational service as passenger jetliner, they can be scrapped for spare parts, retired to aircraft graveyards or reconfigured for service in another aviation sector.

Converting a passenger aircraft into a freighter is one way to extend the economic life of an aircraft.

Conversions involve major structural modifications. These aircraft be stripped for overhauled parts the company can resell to suppliers, and factory-new parts and materials then go into the aircraft to reinforce it for cargo configuration.

Some typical conversion tasks include installing a main deck cargo door (MDCD) on the fuselage, a one-minute smoke detecting system inside the aircraft, and a non-powered or powered Cargo Loading System to allow for loading of various cargo arrangements on the main deck.

Airbus Delivers First Five-Blade Helicopter, as an Air Ambulance

 Airbus delivered the first of its new five-blade H145s to the Norwegian Air Ambulance Sept. 30, in Germany. The variant is offered as a new aircraft off the production line, or through a retrofit kit for operators of the original H145 type.

The organization has another two five-bladed H145s on order and plans to retrofit its four-bladed H145s when the kit becomes available.

Airbus's five-blade helicopter was type certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in June. (Photo Courtesy Airbus Helicopters)

In this update of the H145, one of Airbus' popular helicopter designs, not only includes an extra blade but also adds a bearingless main rotor system with a fully composite flex-beam and main rotor blades to make the aircraft lighter and more efficient. This version also dispenses of the main rotor head entirely.

The net result of these modifications is an increase of 330 pounds in useful load over the four-bladed H145, a payload increase that is notably important for air ambulances.

“The increased useful load and the smooth flight make the new H145 the perfect choice . . . to further push the boundaries and enhance helicopter emergency medical services [HEMS] in Norway and in the whole air ambulance community, " said Hans Morten Lossius, Secretary General of Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation.

This foundation is the mother company and owner of the Norwegian Air Ambulance. Founded in 1978 by Norwegian doctor Jens Moe, it brought HEMS to Norway by opening a first base near Oslo. Today, it operates all 13 HEMS bases in Norway and all four bases in Denmark using a fleet of H135s and H145s. 

"Our main target with this aircraft is research and development projects,” said Erik Normann, director of flight operations development at the Norwegian Air Ambulance. “Of course, part of medical research is flying actual patients, so we will put it into service towards the end of this year.”

Normann said the aircraft would be "an important tool" in the organization's medical research projects, include testing small devices that could help the service in their daily work - including a CT scanner.

"A CT scanner is normally 400-500 kilograms, located in a hospital,” said Normann. “We would like to put it in this aircraft to improve stroke treatment dramatically.”

Other modifications include upgraded avionics with the installation of Airbus's Wireless Airborne Communication System, which allows navigation and mission database information to be imported form a tablet, and has the capability for cockpit Wi-Fi.

“I would like to thank the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation for their trust in our helicopters and especially in the H145 family of helicopters. I can’t wait to see this new version in operation, contributing to the success of life-saving missions,” said Bruno Even, Airbus Helicopters’ CEO. “Our teams have worked hard to bring this enhanced multi-mission helicopter to the market quickly.”

Mortin Lossius added the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation is proud to be the launch customer for this type.  The new H145s will be flown to Norway, where the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation will install an Aerolite interior to enable the helicopter to fly HEMS missions.

This groundbreaking modification to a popular aircraft are already proving successful to Airbus during a time when many aircraft companies are struggling to sell commercial and ambulatory aircraft. The company currently has 90 orders for the five-blade helicopter and 80 orders for the retrofit kit.

Airbus's five-blade helicopter was type certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in June, and the Federal Aviation Administration is expected to validate the new type this year, according to Axel Humpert, senior vice president and head of the H145 program at Airbus.

With more blades, come more unique parts. You can learn more about what rotorcraft parts are important to the five-blade upgrade at Aircraft Parts.

Raytheon Wins $579.8 Million Deal for JSF F135 Engine Parts

Raytheon Technologies Corp., one of the world's largest defense contractors, won a $579.8 million contract for F-35 spare parts, engines and modules Sept. 4.

The contract, awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, provides unit and depot level F135 propulsion system spare parts, engines and modules to support the initial spares requirements for customers in the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and non-Department of Defense participants and Foreign Military Sales customers, according to a U.S. Department of Defense release.

F-35 HMS Queen Elizabeth Day (Photo Courtesy Ratheon technologies Corp)

A majority of the work will take place in East Hartford, Connecticut (93 percent), while the rest will be completed in Indianapolis, Indiana (6 percent) and the  Bristol, United Kingdom (1 percent). Work is expected to be completed in December 2024.

The Pratt & Whitney F135 propulsion system is the world's most advanced fighter engine. The F135 powers all three variants of the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet delivering more than 40,000 lbs. of thrust. It employs an integrated power package (IPP), which combines the functions of a traditional auxiliary power system, emergency power system, and environmental control into one single system. Starting the engine with this IPP is a demonstration of just one of the "more electric systems" that the F-35 will rely on to operate. These tightly integrated systems will save weight, add reliability and improve packaging efficiency.

The F-35 Lightning II, developed by Lockheed Martin in conjunction with BAE Systems and Northrup Grumman, is a Joint Strike Fighter aircraft developed to replace a wide range of existing fighter, strike and ground attack aircraft. It is the first truly international fighter aircraft program, as the single-engine tactical fighter is set to serve the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Norway and other allied nations.

Now, Raytheon and its partners will have a hand the execution of this international developmental project supplying spare parts and engine components to the U.S. military and foreign customers for the next four years.

Parts built by Raytheon for Pratt & Whitney can also be found at AeroBase Group and NationalStockNumber.org.

For more information regarding the F135 and F-35 Lightning II, follow Aircraft Parts on Blogger.