Bombardier has halted development
of its all-composite mid-size Learjet
85, citing continued weak demand for
lighter business jets. The company
will record a $1.4 billion fourth-quarter
2014 charge to write off development
costs, and reduce its workforce by 1,
in Wichita and Queretaro, Mexico.
Queretaro will continue to make Global
7000/8000 aft fuselages while Wichita
assembles Learjet 70/75s. Bombardier
also warns cash flow from aerospace
will be $800 million in 2014, not $1.2-1.
billion as forecast. Expenditures on
plant and equipment, including aircraft
development costs, are expected to be
$1.8 billion, raising analysts’ concerns
over the company’s liquidity. On the
plus side, Bombardier delivered a few
more aircraft than forecast in 2014:
204 business jets and 84 commercial
aircraft, up 22% over 2013.
Airbus is targeting the Boeing 757
replacement market with a long-
range version of the A321neo with a
97-ton maximum takeoff weight. Air
Lease Corp. is the launch customer,
signing a memorandum of understand-
ing for 30. To enter service in 2019,
the 206-passenger aircraft will have a
third auxiliary center fuel tank and fly
around 500-nm farther than an A321ceo
with regular 93.5-ton maximum weight.
Airbus claims a calculated 4,000-nm
range, exceeding the 3,850 nm of a
winglet-equipped Boeing 757-200W and
burning up to 30% less fuel. Airbus sees
a market to replace the 469 757s flying,
plus another 500 sales (page 24).
China’s indigenously designed
Comac ARJ21-700 regional airliner
has been granted a type certificate by
the country’s civil aviation authority.
Certification follows more than 12
years of development, including six
in flight testing. The Civil Aviation
Administration of China issued the
Chapter 25 type certificate on Dec. 30.
The first airline to receive the aircraft
will be Chengdu Airlines, in April or
10 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/JANUARY 15-FEBRUARY 1, 2015 AviationWeek.com/awst
Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotors
will replace aging Grumman C-2A
Greyhound carrier onboard delivery
(COD) aircraft under an agreement
between U.S. Navy and Marine Corps
leadership. A Jan. 5 memo, obtained by
Breaking Defense, says an initial batch
of 12 Ospreys are to be diverted from
Marine Corps MV-22 procurement
in fiscal 2018-20 for conversion
to Navy HV-22 COD aircraft. The
Marines would receive replacement
MV-22s in fiscal 2021-23. The HV-
would be fitted with extra fuel tanks
to meet Navy range requirements.
Using the MV-22 avoids the need to
take scarce aircraft out of service
for modernization while reducing
risk because it is in production and
service, and can do more just than
the COD mission, says Sean Stackley,
assistant Navy secretary for research,
development and acquisition. Northrop
Grumman appears not to be giving
up, saying “For the COD mission,
we believe that modernization of the
current fleet of C-2As will provide the
most cost-effective option.”May. The aircraft will belong to Comac
and will help the manufacturer learn to
support the type in service.New aircraft delivered after 2020
should come equipped with a track-
ing data broadcast system that sends
regular position updates to airline
operators, a flight data recorder that
automatically deploys (and floats) in
the event of a crash and a tamper-
proof distress reporting unit that will
transmit aircraft position, the Inter-
national Civil Aviation Organization
working group on aircraft tracking
recommends (page 24).Airbus and Boeing are trading
claims over which dominated the
commercial-aircraft market in 2014,
with the U.S. manufacturer delivering
more aircraft but its European rival
booking more net orders. Boeing
delivered 723 aircraft last year,
up from 648 in 2013, while Airbus
deliveries were up marginally at 629.
Boeing set a company record for
orders in 2014 at 1,432 aircraft, up
from 1,355 in in 2013, but was topped
by Airbus’s 1,456 net orders, although
this was down from 1,503 a year earlier
(page 24).Canadian helicopter engineering
company Eagle Copters’ reengining
of the single-turbine Bell 407 with a
Honeywell HTS900 turboshaft has
been certifi ed. The installation was
originally developed for Bell’s ARH-
70 Arapaho armed reconnaissance
helicopter, which was canceled by
the U.S. Army in 2008. Replacing the
407’s Rolls-Royce M250-C47 improves
hot-and-high performance, says Eagle,
which hopes Bell will eventually adopt
the upgrade for its 407GX and foreign
military versions of the helicopter.BOMBARDIERCOMACU.S. NAVYTwo squadrons of F-35s will be located
at Lakenheath, with the first aircraft to
arrive in 2020. Boeing KC-135 tankers
at Mildenhall and a co-located special
operations group flying Lockheed
Martin MC-130Js and Bell-Boeing
CV-22s will move to bases in Germany.
The result will be a net decrease of
about 2,000 U.S. military and civilian
personnel in the U.K.DEFENSERAF Lakenheath in the U.K. has
been chosen as the first European
base for U.S. Air Force Lockheed
Martin F-35As. N earby RAF
Mildenhall is to be closed under a
Defense Department cost-saving plan
to reduce its infrastructure in Europe.COMMERCIAL
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