Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Leeham News and Analysis
- Teamsters, Boeing have a new contract April 29, 2025
- Boeing wants to remarket China’s airplanes. It’s costly and time consuming. April 28, 2025
- Bjorn’s Corner: Air Transport’s route to 2050. Part 19. April 25, 2025
- How good is the C929? Part 2. April 24, 2025
- Boeing First Quarter Results Update: China is 10% of the backlog, with 500 in “Unidentified” April 24, 2025
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of airliner development. Part 6. Adding seats.
By Bjorn Fehrm, Henry Tam, and Andrew Telesca.
June 04, 2021, ©. Leeham News: Last week, we examined operating and product certification rules related to 9-seater air taxis and commuters. We took the example of the new Tecnam P2012 Traveller to study the certification rules for a 9-seater. Now we upsize the aircraft to understand the pros and cons of adding extra seats.
The Viking Twin Otter, the only in-production 19-seater. Source: Viking Air
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of airliner development. Part 5. Developing to Cert rules
By Bjorn Fehrm, Henry Tam, and Andrew Telesca
May 28, 2021, ©. Leeham News: After an overview of different certification rules and discussions about why there are different rule sets, we now exemplify the rules by looking at specific aircraft projects and how the certification rules affect the design.
We start this week with the idea to certify a 9-seat mini-airliner like the Tecnam P2012 Traveller. It’s a recent development with US-based Cape Air as the launch customer.
Figure 1. Passengers boarding the 9-seat Tecnam P2012. Source: Tecnam.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of airliner development. Part 4. How safe is safe?
By Bjorn Fehrm, Henry Tam, and Andrew Telesca
May 21, 2021, ©. Leeham News: After giving an overview of the types of certification rules last week we now describe why the rules can vary so much between projects.
We cover some general concepts around acceptable levels of safety that influence how the regulations get applied to specific projects.
Figure 1. Air vehicles and their classification. Source: Aviation & Flying.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of airliner development. Part 3. Certification rules overview.
By Bjorn Fehrm, Henry Tam, and Andrew Telesca.
May 14, 2021, ©. Leeham News: The certification rules for different aeronautical vehicles are specific for each airworthiness jurisdiction. It means each country has its own rules for all the categories we listed in the last article. However, with the support of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), there is harmonization in many areas, especially around airport and airline operations. For airworthiness rules, most originated from dominant jurisdictions like the US FAA, whose rules have inspired the Canadian and European rules as well as many others.
As new technologies come to market, or new safety information is learned through testing, accidents, and incidents, the major regulatory agencies of the world constantly adapt with some rules harmonizing across jurisdictions and other rules diverging in different directions. It is an ever-evolving regulatory landscape that supports some of the safest transportation in the world, but it comes at a cost for companies as what was done in the past cannot always be expected to be accepted in the future, and the more global your desired market the more rules you need to understand and the more constraints your design will need to satisfy.
Figure 1. The EASA certification rules website. Source: EASA.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of airliner development. Part 2. Why Certification?
By Bjorn Fehrm, Henry Tam, and Andrew Telesca.
May 7, 2021, ©. Leeham News: The major challenge with developing commercial aircraft is the certification process. You can’t just develop the aircraft based on your unique knowledge and ideas, you must do it according to a detailed rulebook written with the knowledge from thousands of accidents and incidents.
From the beginning of the design process when you’re thinking about how big your engines would need to be or whether you can carry enough passengers to have a competitive advantage the certification rules influence (and sometimes govern) your design decisions.
Beyond just scrutiny of the design of the vehicle and its components, the process by which it is designed, the production site & methods used, and the organization doing the work all go through certification processes.
Figure 1. The FAA certification rules website. Source: FAA.
Bjorn’s Corner: The Challenges of Airliner Development. Part 1. Introduction
By Bjorn Fehrm, Henry Tam, and Andrew Telesca
April 30, 2021, ©. Leeham News: After our hydrogen series, we now start a series around the Challenges of Airliner Development.
We have more aeronautical projects in development than ever, fueled by the transformation to new, more sustainable technology and new forms of flight, like Urban Air Mobility and Drones based on electrical propulsion.
Many of these projects underestimate what it takes to ready a certified air vehicle. We describe what’s involved in a series of Corners.
Figure 1. A typical aero development CFD graphic. Source: Boeing.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of hydrogen. Part 33. Wrap-up: The Eco-system
By Bjorn Fehrm
April 16, 2021, ©. Leeham News: Last week, we wrapped up the operational part of sustainable air transport using hydrogen as an energy source.
Now we look at where we are with the all-important Eco-system. It has many moving parts and risks a chicken and egg stalemate.
Figure 1. The prospective conversion of the European gas pipeline network to hydrogen. Source: EU.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of hydrogen. Part 32. Wrap-up: Going forward
By Bjorn Fehrm
April 9, 2021, ©. Leeham News: Last week we made a summary of the history of initiatives for sustainable aviation, now we look at the likely developments over the next 10 years.
What is the likely development for different classes of airliners and what technologies will be popular?
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of hydrogen. Part 31. Wrap-up: Where we stand
By Bjorn Fehrm
April 2, 2021, ©. Leeham News: It’s time to wrap up our series on the hydrogen airliner alternative for Sustainable Commercial Aviation.
We review the status for sustainable aviation as of today, then look at the future next week.
Figure 1. The first certified electric aircraft, the Pipistrel Velis Electro. Source: Pipistrel.
Bjorn’s Corner: The challenges of hydrogen. Part 30. Integrated nacelles.
By Bjorn Fehrm
March 26, 2021, ©. Leeham News: This week, we look at combining the propulsion and hydrogen tank in an integrated nacelle as Airbus proposes in Figure 1.
Airbus calls it its “pod” solution. What are the advantages, and what challenges does it present?
Figure 1. Airbus concept for a turboprop with integrated nacelles. Source: Airbus.