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SP’s AN SP GUIDE PUBLICATION News Flies. We Gather Intelligence. Every Month. From India. Aviation WWW.SPSAVIATION.NET ISSUE 3 • 2009 „ Lockheed Martin’s VP, Business „ Embraer’s VP, S&M José Development Orville Prins spells out Eduardo Costas elaborates on combat capabilities of the F-16IN strengths of Phenom 100 PAGE 4 PAGE 11 V E R Y Light J E T S TRENDS PAGE 8 RNI NUMBER: DELENG/2008/24199 ProMcuinriesmtrye notf PHromce•ess A eIfnlfaadbir aoIsʼNr sEa THlteHomdImS e• eEnlDt asEIn vT•deIO nS NIteDs ʼc-S uR rHeitfeyea r&deqn ucea r-t Seprseʼc riaol eI ninse rt ����2���0��0��8�������� 2009 ������������������������������������������������������������������� � �������� ���� � ����� � ������ � ������� � ����������� 2008 ������������������� � ������ 2009 ����������������������������������������� ���������������������������� ������������������������ ����������������������� SP's MYB 0809 CVR01.indd 1 4/9/09 3:12:44 PM 41�(6*%&�16#-*$�"5*0/4 8*�&/*/( ) 0 3 * ; 0 / 4 � � � N E W AF Table of Contents SP’s AN SP GUIDE PUBLICATION Regular Departments 8 2 A Word from Editor News Flies. We Gather Intelligence. Every Month. From India. Aviation ISSUE 3 • 2009 3 NewsWithViews Dangerous Space Debris On Record 20 NewsDigest 4 MILITARY LOCKHEED MARTIN F-16IN 24 LastWord 11 CIVIL Train Well to Rein Error EMBRAER PHENOM 100 Series Cover Photo: S1s AN SP (6I%& P6#-I$ATION 6 TCOHMEM FEIRCSITA FL AALVTIEARTIINOGN ATTEMPTS LIGHT UP THE SKY: While Cessna and Wmhgailrolkeoe mitt, itihsn en rtohet ea a prlelr ekdseoeyon mits V sauLneJds APD„D78AF 8P(LP8W.EN4 1DF4C"LM7B*"IP5U*.0FQ/ /D& FN5OBSEFQvW O.BJUTBC 7MSPJ MUM FBEJJTV QPOUTSFiJJJMOFO/MFTFTX aTP TP G 'VMFJ TET„UPU UA E 8 EI( FSVN EF(F BC B'tUOSIFHBES 3*UTFPOIN U7FIS CMPM JTPiH F PSOT DU G &F.B WoP F+PTISZ F TF.ÊMoO O BUPI' C N S oPN nIS 0S*6O:0&BE J rBU F T PO Business Aviation Embraer dominate the market, it is a that need to be addressed by positive sign for VLJs that the Phenom operators, owners and the Light 8 VLJS and Mustang production lines are not regulatory authorities. + & 5 4 LIGHT UP THE SKY s (Seeeeinng h aenrye cisu atb Pahckesn oinm p 1r0od0u, tchtieo nfi.r st Photo Credit: Cessna SP's AvnT 03 of 09 Cover.indd 1RENDS PA(E 4/18/09 5:32:28 PM Industry oEfm wbhriacehr wina lsa cte rDtieficeedm abnedr dlaeslti vyeeraerd.) by 15 HELICOPTER RISE OF THE ROTARY PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Jayant Baranwal Ratan Sonal 17 HONEYWELL GRAPHIC DESIGNER: T HE MODULAR, RELIABLE, HIGH ArSuSnISdThAaNti TD EasDITOR Rajkumar Sharma, Vimlesh Kumar Yadav PERFORMANCE SOLUTION © SP Guide Publications, 2009 READY FOR JAGUAR SENIOR VISITING EDITOR Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION Hall of Fame SENIOR TECHNICAL GROUP EDITORS EInmlaanidl:: sRusb s8c5r0ib •e @Fospregiugind:e UpuSb$l i2c5a0tions.com 19 S.V. SETTY Air Marshal (Retd) B.K. Pandey FOR ADVERTISING DETAILS, CONTACT: Lt General (Retd) Naresh Chand A Word from Editor Lure of VLJs and the humble origins of commercial aviation represent the two ends of a spectrum defining humankind’s unquenchable thirst for flying. Precisely why this edition is truly unputdownable. ery Light Jets (VLJs) pose a dream and a di- Euphoria fuelled by the advent of the VLJ necessarily lemma. The dream of taking to the skies with- dictates a scrutiny of the remarkable evolution charted by out the hassles and time frame normally asso- the commercial aviation industry. Merely a century ago, ciated when travelling on commercial airlines; on May 14, 1908, in the US, the first passenger—Charlie and the dilemma of ensuring stringent safety Furnas—had entrusted his life to Wilbur Wright, who took Vmeasures while enforcing the distinct criteria him aloft and brought him safely back to Earth. In 1913, for pilot training. Reporting on the Royal Aeronautical Soci- Igor Sikorsky developed the world’s first large, four-engine ety’s Corporate, Air Taxi & Personal Jets conference held in plane. Le Grand could carry seven passengers and stay London on March 18 and 19, SP’s correspondent for Europe aloft for nearly two hours. It had a plush cabin (with a lava- Phil Nasskau affirms that a recurring theme at the conven- tory, private suite and bed) and cabin heating and lighting. tion was that of safety and pilot training. On August 25, 1919, the British airline, Aircraft Transport Statistical accident data corroborated that aircraft oper- and Travel, inaugurated a regular, sustained, civil, daily ated by a single pilot have a 50 per cent higher accident (Monday to Saturday) passenger service between London rate over a two-crew aircraft. Addressing the gathering, and Paris. It was probably the first such scheduled service Captain John Cox of the Flight Operations Group pointed in the world. A host of such engrossing nuggets of informa- out that this trend applies even when the single pilot has tion feature in the first installment of a series of articles more experience than a typical First Officer of a two-crew in SP’s Aviation tracing the incredible journey of humans aircraft. Cynics, meanwhile, have also raised the spectre of taking to the sky like fish to water. the skies getting crowded with these “upstarts” piloted by Still on this page? inadequately trained individuals. How does one define a VLJ? In layman’s terms, a VLJ’s design allows for single-pilot operation for the aircraft weighing less than 10,000 lbs maximum gross takeoff weight and with the capability to carry four to six passen- gers. That’s the bare statistics. Advantages that stick, mak- ing the VLJ hottest of corporate possessions (an estimated 5,000 are expected to take to the skies by 2017), is—yes, you guessed right—price and time. No queues. No intermi- nably delayed flights. No last minute cancellation of busi- ness meetings. No eavesdropping strangers. All of that at a cost much less than a business jet. All of a sudden, retrain- ing the organisation’s aviation department appears not so big a deal after all. Driving home the advantages, José Edu- ardo Costas, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Embraer Executive Jets, Asia Pacific, writes on the state-of-the-art features of the Phenom 100, designed with the primary ob- jective to offer more value for money to corporate bigwigs. For the military, Orville Prins, Vice President, Business De- velopment, Lockheed Martin, India outlines the air-to-air combat capabilities that make the F-16IN Super Viper the Jayant Baranwal ultimate 4th Generation Fighter. Publisher & Editor-in-Chief 2 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2009 www.spsaviation.net DANGEROUS SPACE DEBRIS Orbiting junk compelled NASA to order astronauts aboard the connected International Space Station (ISS) and shuttle Discovery to move out of the way of a piece of debris on Sunday, March 22. Discovery’s pilots fired the ship’s thrusters to reorient the two spacecraft, thereby making way for a small discarded piece from a 10-year-old Chinese satellite rocket motor that was to have hurtled pass uncomfortably close during a planned spacewalk. “Space debris is becoming an ever increasing challenge,” Flight Director Kwatsi Alibaruho said the same evening. When it comes to dodging junk, “it’s a big deal. It’s very tiring. Sometimes it’s exhausting”. VIEWS iring the Discovery’s thrusters, astronauts aboard the 10 drove home the grave danger posed by space debris when space shuttle created a slow, natural drag of about a the deactivated Kosmos-2251 and an operational Iridium 33 foot per second, placing the shuttle and space station collided in space over northern Siberia. The relative speed of Fin a belly facing forward position. After about three impact, approximately 42,000 km per hour, pulverised both hours, there was enough room for the offending 4-inch piece satellites, consequently inflating the ominous pile of 600,000- of junk to careen past without a collision. This, however, is plus pieces of junk already floating in space. not an isolated occurrence. The ISS appears to perpetually Even as the menace rapidly acquires proportions similar be in danger of colliding with a vast number of space de- to that of global warming, a number of alternatives are being bris, also called space junk, thought of to check the genera- circling similar orbits. Earlier tion of additional space debris. in the month, the spectre of a Passivation of spent upper stag- collision had forced the three es by the release of residual fu- ISS residents to take shelter els is one such measure which in their emergency get-away could decrease the risk of on- capsule. That was not all, just orbit explosions. Yet another a week prior to the incident on mitigatory step—that should March 22, right before Discov- be made not just mandatory but ery’s arrival, the space station also included as part and par- had to dodge yet another piece cel of future satellite designs— of a busted-up Soviet satellite. would be to deorbit satellites How does one define space at the end of their operational debris? These are objects dis- life. If a direct and controlled carded by humans that orbit deorbit is not feasible (requir- around the Earth, whooshing ing too much fuel), the satellites around aimlessly. From spent should at least be brought to rocket motors and defunct sat- lower orbits and slowed down ellites to explosion fragments, through electrodynamic ‘termi- space debris also constitute nator tethers’ wherein atmo- objects that may have acciden- spheric drag would cause them tally slipped out of the hands of to deorbit within a reasonable astronauts during space walks timeframe. In case of very high or extra-vehicular activity orbital altitudes, such as in the (EVA). Famous Indian origin geostationary ring, the satellites astronaut Sunita Williams lost could be parked in a marked a camera during EVA. But such graveyard where no operation- items, mainly because of the al satellites would operate. proximity of their orbital path, The above measures, how- reenter the Earth’s atmosphere ever, are preventive in nature. and burn up. The real culprits To clean up the current mess are the explosions. The largest in space, ways and means man-made space debris in his- have to be found to ‘sweep’ the tory was the anti-satellite weapon test conducted by China on debris back into Earth’s atmosphere—using ‘space garbage January 11, 2007. The incident was estimated to have cre- collection trucks’ or automated tugs, laser brooms to vapo- ated 23,000 pieces of trackable debris (about golf ball size or rise debris, or huge aerogel blobs to absorb impacting junk larger), over 35,000 pieces of 1 cm or larger and one million and eventually fall out of orbit with the entrapped load. If pieces of 1 mm or larger. As the explosion took place at higher mankind must shoot in space, it must be to bring down the orbit altitude compared to the previous tests, the deorbit time debris and not add to the growing pile. SP is likely to be in excess of 35 years. An incident on February — Air Marshal (Retd) V.K. Bhatia Issue 3 • 2009 SP’S AVIATION 3 ILLUSTRATION: MAMTA NewsWithViews MILITARY LOCKHEED MARTIN F-16IN SUPER DYNAMICS Air-to-air combat capabilities of the F-16IN Super Viper make it the ultimate By Orville Prins Vice President, 4th Generation Fighter, providing proven air Business Development, combat capability that the IAF can rely on Lockheed Martin, India he Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) the air-to-air combat capability required of the MMRCA, and must be capable of many roles and missions, with they are formidable. The evolution of air combat and implica- a key role being air-to-air combat. It must be able tions of fighter design on modern air combat capability are to defend itself during a mission, or stand ready for fully reflected in the RFP requirements, and the ongoing tech- an air-defence alert-launch. It must do more than nical evaluation and upcoming field trials will show the F-16IN T“dogfight” in order to fill its valuable role; it must Super Viper is the fighter for the Indian Air Force. fight, win, refuel, rearm, and fight again! For half a century, the naked eye found the enemy. Just after In its RFP, the Indian Air Force has outlined the basics of the Korean War the airborne radar began to assist in detecting 4 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2009 www.spsaviation.net PHOTOGRAPHS: LOCKHEED MARTIN OnRecord MILITARY LOCKHEED MARTIN F-16IN aircraft. The newest breakthrough F-16 missions lasting more in airborne radar technology is than 8 hours, and has with- the Active Electronically Scanned stood the punishment of the Array (AESA). The benefits of the ready room. AESA radar are truly revolution- ary and the F-16IN Super Viper INTEGRATED MISSION offers the only AESA delivered in- PLANNING DATA ternationally today. In the days of the open cockpit, seeing and communicating UNDERLINING THE ADVANTAGES with wingmen and knowing Along with longer-range detec- front line locations were part tions, a large operating bandwidth, of air combat. The F-16IN Su- and interleave modes, there are per Viper embodies the ulti- other benefits of AESA radar. The mate in the evolution of com- antenna of the Super Viper AESA munication and situational is a fixed plate that does not move. awareness using automatic Gone are the stability limits of the establishment of all available actuators driving the mechanical data links and automatic data antennas in other fighters. The correlation. Mission planning fully integrated and optimised F-16IN AESA radar does not TECH WONDER: data are fully integrated with real time on- care if the Super Viper is manoeuvring; it continues searching, THE F-16IN SUPER board and offboard data for fusion on the VIPER EMBODIES detecting, and providing high quality tracking throughout the tactical situation awareness displays. THE ULTIMATE IN fighter’s entire envelope. When properly integrated, the AESA THE EVOLUTION OF While dogfighting is less common in radar can detect when a contact is manoeuvring and devote COMMUNICATION modern air combat, the need for the per- AND SITUATIONAL more time to tracking to prevent a loss of track. formance remains. Whether launching on AWARENESS The F-16IN AESA radar has high fidelity information on an air-defence alert, repositioning during “ownship” velocities and a steady two-way stream of data be- a patrol, or manoeuvring for an intercept, tween it and the mission computer resulting in superior per- fighter performance is a must. The F-16IN Super Viper has formance in clutter, ECM, and manoeuvring target situations. the agility that the F-16 made famous, and that all others It was inevitable that a counter to radar detection would en- try to emulate. Even when carrying air-to-air weapons, con- sue. Reduction in radar cross-section (RCS) is the counter- formal fuel tanks, and an empty centerline fuel tank, the F- measure to radar detection. RCS reduced aircraft may not be 16IN still has a 9 “g” capability. The F-16IN has something detected by radar until they are very close, so close that other even more—the fuel to support sustained high speed opera- means of detection are more effective. At these short ranges tions. The F-16IN provides sustained supersonic speeds in the human eye still plays an important role, and so fighter level flight needed to cross long distances for a time-critical size and engine smoke must also be reduced to counter detec- intercept. tion by sight. The F-16IN Super Viper has a small visual cross In the end, the basic principles of air combat haven’t really section and a single, smokeless engine. With a small fighter, changed all that much. See the enemy first and fire on them still RCS reduction can be combined with reduced infrared and applies, but the F-16IN Super Viper pilot’s eye is now supple- visual signatures, allowing manoeuvring past the normal vi- mented with a myriad of sensors in multiple spectrums. “Check sual scan of the enemy pilot’s eye to an unseen intercept, vi- your trim and ready your guns” is now accomplished through sual identification or offensive firing position. Nothing sends the F-16IN’s digital fly-by-wire flight controls, automatic inte- a message quite like pilots returning from airspace incursions gration of data and system level weapon management. Hand with stories of your fighter “Just appearing out of nowhere!” signals between pilots have been replaced by its network-cen- Through the Korean War era, the primary weapon of the tric situational awareness and multifunction radios. air combat fighter was the gun employed in a “dogfight”. With All this capability can be hard on a machine, just as it was in the advent of self-guiding air-to-air missile, many thought the days of grass fields, hammers and wrenches. The MMRCA “dogfighting” was obsolete. History has shown first detection must be able to provide effective air combat capability daily and firing of beyond-visual-range missiles is one factor in air with a very high mission reliability rate over a long lifetime. combat victory but it is not a guarantee that dogfighting will The F-16IN Super Viper is that air combat fighter. There are not ensue. So the “gun” persists to this day as an element years of real combat experience going into every system and of dog fighting. But is that paradigm changing? The super- subsystem. It is the ultimate 4th Generation Fighter—provid- manoeuvrable, short range air-to-air missile, aimed by the ing proven air combat capability that the IAF can rely on. SP pilot’s eye, is becoming reliable enough that it might replace the time-proven gun. The author is a graduate of the Naval Fighter Weapons Only recently have technological advances provided the so- School (Topgun) and the USAF Adversary Tactics Instructor lutions needed to make the helmet mounted cueing system re- School, he has flown more than 3,000 hours in 14 different quired for the employment of these new all-aspect short-range tactical aircraft. In addition to his corporate experience, missiles comfortable, accurate and reliable. The F-16IN Super Prins’s military assignments include Project Test Pilot, Op- Viper pilot uses the Helmet Mounted Cueing System, which is erations, Weapons and Air Combat Training, Logistics and lightweight, comfortable, and multirole capable. It is worn on Administration, Quality Assurance and Maintenance. Issue 3 • 2009 SP’S AVIATION 5 COMMERCIALAVIATION The First Faltering attempts On May 14, 1908, the first passenger— Charlie Furnas—entrusted his life to Wilbur Wright, who took him aloft and brought him safely back to Earth. Over the next century, humans took to flying like fish to water. A series of articles will trace the evolution and growth of this sector. nnumerable, dar- By Group Captain (Retd) passenger with a one-way fare of $5 (Rs ing aviation feats 250). After operating for just four months that followed Orville Joseph Noronha and carrying a total of 1,205 passengers, Wright’s pioneering the company shut shop at the end of the flight on December tourist season. On July 15, 1916, William I 17, 1903, invariably Edward Boeing, then 34 and already a involved a single pilot, without passengers. The Wright Broth- millionaire, founded the US aircraft manufacturing corpo- ers themselves flew together only once in the same aircraft. ration that still bears his name. Over several decades, the Subsequently, they flew separately so that even if a crash cut company would evolve into the world’s largest commercial one life short, the surviving sibling could continue their avia- aircraft manufacturer. tion experiments. Merely a century ago, on May 14, 1908, in the US, the THOSE ‘DREADFUL FLYING MACHINES’ first passenger—Charlie Furnas—entrusted his life to Wilbur World War I (1914-1918) was a wasted period for commer- Wright, who took him aloft and brought him safely back to cial aviation with design and production efforts of major in- Earth. The first woman passenger followed soon after when dustrial nations focussed on military aircraft. In the public on July 8, 1908, Thérèse Peltier flew with Léon Delagrange perception, those “dreadful flying machines” were meant to in Italy. If passengers were taken up it was mainly for brief rain death and destruction on the enemy rather than con- joyrides. The caution of air passengers was understandable, vey peaceable civilian travellers quickly and safely to their for the first fatality involving a powered aircraft occurred the destination. The huge surplus of military planes at the end same year. On September 17, 1908, Thomas Selfridge became of the war ensured that the demand for new aircraft was al- the first victim of many thousands of air accidents over the most non-existent for several years. Many aircraft builders decades when Orville Wright crashed their two-seat plane. went bust. The early airliners were simply converted bomb- In 1913, Igor Sikorsky developed the world’s first large, ers—slow contraptions of wood, wire and fabric. They had four-engine plane. Le Grand could carry seven passengers no radio and were navigated by using a map and compar- and stay aloft for nearly two hours. It had a plush cabin (with ing it with features appearing on the ground below. Why, a lavatory, private suite and bed) and cabin heating and light- then, would travellers want to risk their lives in the air? ing. Its more refined successor, the Il’ya Muromets, (named In America, they could travel with far greater comfort and after a legendary Russian warrior) also proved its worth as convenience, and comparable speed, by rail. a powerful and rugged bomber—the first ‘dual use’ aircraft In Europe, however, the English Channel worked as an with interdependent civil and military roles. In June 1914, it incentive for Great Britain and France to start commercial flew from St. Petersburg (Russia) to Kiev and back—a round services. Consequently, on August 25, 1919, the British air- trip of over 2,000 km. The world’s first scheduled air ser- line, Aircraft Transport and Travel, inaugurated a regular, vice, the St. Petersburg (USA) to Tampa Air Boat Line, began sustained, civil, daily (Monday to Saturday) passenger service on January 1, 1914. It operated a seaplane carrying a single between London and Paris. It was probably the first such 6 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2009 www.spsaviation.net PHOTOGRAPHS: WWW.FLICKR.COM, WWW.WIKIPEDIA.COM SERIES SERIES COMMERCIAL AVIATION scheduled service in the world. The world famous KLM (Roy- intended specifically to carry passengers. The three-engine al Dutch Airline) was founded in 1919 and began its service Model 80, launched in 1928, could carry 12 passengers, from Amsterdam to London on May 17, 1920, with Fokker F-2 and an upgraded Model 80A could hold 18. The cabin had aircraft. This is the oldest surviving air service in the world. hot and cold running water, a toilet, forced air ventilation, In Germany, Adolf Rohrbach’s Zeppelin-Staaken E.4/20 was leather upholstered seats and individual reading lamps. a streamlined design, constructed mainly of duralumin alloy, On May 15, 1930, registered nurse Ellen Church became powered by four en- the world’s first stew- gines, and weighing ardess travelling from 18,700 lbs fully load- “A recession is when you have to tighten your belt; a Oakland en route to ed. Only large wheels depression is when you have no belt to tighten. When Chicago for Boeing and landing gear you’ve lost your trousers, you’re in the airline business.” Air Transport. In ad- struts marred its dition to being nurses, —Sir Adam Thomson, graceful lines. It had the first eight steward- late founder of British Caledonian a cabin that seated esses had to be single, up to 18, as well as a younger than 25 years, lavatory and gener- weigh less than 115 lbs ous mail and luggage space. At its first flight, in 1920, both its and less than 5 ft 4 in in height. At the end of the decade, design and performance—cruising more than 130 mph at less new jobs began to appear in and around airports. Ware- than full power, and travelling nearly 850 miles—were a good houses were set up and manufacturers began to build their dozen years ahead of what any other airliner had yet attained. plants closer to airports. Aeronautical schools began train- However, in accordance with post-World War I restrictions, ing aspirants to become designers and builders of aircraft, the Allies ordered it destroyed. A sad loss. and pilots and navigators to fly them. GLOBAL AIRLINE INDUSTRY TAKES SHAPE NOT ENOUGH PASSENGERS In 1927, Juan Terry Trippe founded a modest air service that If there was one factor responsible for the establishment of shuttled mail between Florida and Cuba. His little business aviation as a medium of commerce, it was airmail. And In- eventually grew into Pan American World Airways. Com- dia deserves recognition as the cradle of airmail. In Febru- monly known as Pan Am, it was the principal international ary 1911, the world’s first official airmail flight, piloted by airline of the US from the 1930s until its collapse in De- French pilot M. Picquet, flew 10 km from Allahabad to Naini. cember 1991. The airline became a major company credited In the US, the first scheduled airmail flight took place in with many innovations that shaped the international airline May 1918. By 1925, US Post Office aircraft were delivering industry, including the widespread use of jet aircraft, jumbo around 14 million letters and packages a year and maintain- jets, and computerized reservation systems. ing regular flight schedules. However, scores of airlines set The Ford Tri-motor 5-AT was used by almost all US air- up in most parts of the world could not make a profit without lines. Introduced in 1928, it could carry 15 passengers in direct or indirect (on account of airmail) government subsi- its corrugated fuselage. New technology was also being de- dies. Since subsidies were rarely forthcoming, most airlines veloped. In September 1929, a young US Army lieutenant, folded up. The reason? Not enough passengers. James Doolittle, took off from Mitchell Field in New York, But who can blame the passengers for staying away? flew around 24 km and landed, all without seeing anything For better part of the 1920s, travellers could still make outside of his cockpit. The cockpit was shrouded and he was most overland journeys faster by train than by plane. Fly- using the first instrument air navigation package in history, ing by air was decidedly uncomfortable—the aircraft were including a very accurate barometer, an artificial horizon un-insulated thin sheets of metal, rattling in the wind. Cab- and gyroscope, and a radio direction beacon for landing. ins were un-pressurised and passengers had to stick cotton Growing popular- wool in their ears against the deafening engine noise. EARLY BIRDS: LE GRAND (BELOW) COULD ity of passenger flight However, in 1927, Charles Lindbergh became the first CARRY SEVEN PASSENGERS AND STAY ALOFT inspired Boeing to person to fly across the Atlantic solo; Amelia Earhart was FOR NEARLY TWO HOURS; (FACING PAGE) THE FORD TRI-MOTOR 5-AT WAS INTRODUCED IN build its first aircraft the first woman to do so just a year later. This touched off 1928 AND COULD CARRY 15 a worldwide surge of interest in aviation and did much to convince prospective air travellers that there were reason- able chances of them reaching their intended destination safely. The number of airline passengers in the US surged from just 5,800 in 1926 to approximately 417,000 in 1930. Businessmen comprised most of this number as more and more companies began to pay for their employees to travel by air. But despite the advances in air travel and the aspi- rations of businessmen who hoped to cash in on this new multimillion-dollar industry, airlines in the 1920s that op- erated passenger-only routes lost money. Profitable pas- senger airlines was realised not until the 1930s. SP (To be continued.) Issue 3 • 2009 SP’S AVIATION 7 BUSINESS AVIATION VLJs Light up the Sky By Phil Nasskau London 8 SP’S AVIATION Issue 3 • 2009 www.spsaviation.net PHOTOGRAPHS: PHIL NASSKAU C O V E R S T O R Y

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