What are superchargers and turbochargers?

If the induction air entering the engine is pressurized, or boosted, by either superchargers or turbosuperchargers, the aircraft's service ceiling can be increased. With these systems, an aircraft can fly at higher altitudes with the advantage of higher true airspeeds and the increased ability to circumnavigate adverse weather.

As a normally aspirated aircraft climbs, it eventually reaches an altitude where the engine is unable to perform a normal climb. That altitude limit is the aircraft's service ceiling, and it is directly affected by the engine's ability to produce power.

To increase an engine's horsepower, manufacturers have developed forced induction systems called superchargers and turbosupercharger systems. They both compress the intake air to increase its density. The key difference lies in the power supply.

A supercharger relies on an engine-driven air pump or compressor, while a turbocharger gets its power from the exhaust stream that runs through a turbine, which in turn spins the compressor.

When it comes to normally aspirated engines, the density and pressure of the air play a crucial role in determining how far your engine will stray from its rated horsepower at sea level. In other words, the higher you fly, the thinner the air entering the intake manifold of the engine will be.

So, for a normally aspirated engine, it is not possible to have a manifold pressure higher than the existing atmospheric pressure, whereas a supercharger and a turbocharger are capable of boosting the pressure higher.

Turbocharger.

Pros - Turbochargers

Turbochargers are more efficient than superchargers because turbos use waste air that's already exiting through the exhaust pipe. Though they don't run completely "free of charge". It does take energy for the engine exhaust to turn the turbine.

But in comparison to a supercharger, turbos use less fuel, and they typically have less total weight than a supercharger. Finally, most turbochargers provide a better total increase in horsepower than superchargers, because their speed can be changed by adjusting the wastegate (which is sometimes an automatic function).

Cons - Turbochargers

Most turbochargers suffer from lag. Because it takes a second or two for exhaust gas to spin up the turbine, there is a delay from when you throttle up your engine, to the time the turbine achieves its desired speed and output.

Next, turbos provide little to no benefit at idle and low power settings. And finally, turbos can suffer from a power surge. This happens when you rapidly reduce power, and air pressure quickly builds in the intake manifold, causing a temporary flow reversal and vibration. Surge isn't as much of a problem with modern turbos as it used to be, but it's something that you need to watch out for, especially if you're flying older turbocharged aircraft.

Supercharger.

Pros - Superchargers

Superchargers have no lag, they boost an engine at low RPM, they run at cooler temperatures than turbos, and they're relatively cheap in comparison to turbos (those turbines can get really expensive).

Cons - Superchargers

Superchargers are inefficient because they require quite a bit of engine power to turn. That makes superchargers less fuel efficient than turbos. And finally, because they use a system of pulleys and gears to turn, more parts can break.

Superchargers Started It, But Turbos Are Here To Stay

Back in the mid-1900s, and especially during WWII, superchargers were usually the engine boost of choice. Their simpler operation was one of the main reasons. Another reason they were popular was a lack of metals that could handle the heat produced by turbos. Gas was also very cheap, so it wasn't that big of a deal to burn a little more gas to get the power output you wanted.

But now, high-temperature alloys, lighter weights, and better fuel efficiency have all made turbos the best choice for almost all of today's aircraft. And, with automatic waste gates on many models, they're easier (and more foolproof) to operate than ever before.

Investments of those who bet in Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd stocks have more than doubled so far in 2022.

The shares of the company rose from Rs 1,233 per share in early January to Rs 2,534 to this day, which is a rise of about 105 per cent. In the same period, benchmark indices - Sensex and Nifty - rose just around 2 per cent on a cumulative basis.

Established in 1940, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is a state-owned aerospace and defence company headquartered in Bengaluru.

The shares of the company rose over 400 per cent from as low as Rs 500 during the initial days of Covid. Meanwhile, the company is at the forefront of the indigenisation initiative of India's defence manufacturing.

Hindustan Aeronautics accumulated 105% returns for investors in 2022.

In early July, Hindustan Aeronautics and France-based Safran Helicopter Engines signed an agreement to create a new joint venture intended to develop helicopter engines.

ALSO READ - HAL signs MoU with Israel’s IAI to convert B767 passenger aircraft into mid-air refuellers

Earlier in April, Hindustan Aeronautics entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to convert civil (passenger) aircraft to multi-mission tanker transport (MMTT) aircraft in India.

ALSO READ - HAL reaches a new high with earnings over INR 24,000 crore in FY22

Coming to the company's earnings, it reported a 6 per cent rise in revenue to the tune of Rs 24,000 crore in the financial year 2021-22 as compared to Rs 22,755 crore recorded the previous fiscal.

HAL looks set for a healthy order book.

Last financial year, it bagged a contract for the production of 15 Light Combat Helicopters (LCH), 10 for IAF and five for the Indian Army.

The partnership would be dedicated to the development, production, sales, and support of helicopter engines and one of its main objectives will be to meet the requirements of HAL and the Ministry of Defence's future helicopters, including the 13-ton IMRH (Indian Multi-Role Helicopter).

ALSO READ - HAL signs contract with Honeywell for 88 engines for HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft

Later during the month, Hindustan Aeronautics signed a contract worth over USD 100 million with Honeywell for the supply and manufacture of 88 TPE331-12B engines/kits along with the maintenance and support services to power the Hindustan Trainer Aircraft (HTT-40).

(With inputs from NDTV)

The process to sell three erstwhile subsidiaries of Air India and real estate including the iconic Air India building in Mumbai will be initiated by the government soon.

The government sold Air India to the Tata Group, along with Air India Express and a 50% stake in ground handling company Air India Singapore Airport Terminal Services. These were handed over to the new owners in late January.

The other assets - engineering subsidiary AI Engineering Services, ground-handling unit AI Air Transport Services and domestic carrier Alliance Air, along with real estate including the Air India Building in Mumbai's Nariman Point - are now held under a government-owned entity, AI Asset Holdings Ltd (AIAHL).

ALSO READ - Centre begins work on privatisation of Alliance Air & other Air India subsidiaries

Govt moves to sell Air India subsidiaries.

The government has started work on the proposed sale of Air India subsidiaries with road shows underway for discussions with prospective bidders including the Bird Group, Celebi Aviation and I Squared Capital.

"We have roadshows going on with prospective bidders. We already have cabinet approval for selling all the subsidiaries.We have been in communication with the Bird Group for some time now. Our plan is to monetise the subsidiaries, and set-off liabilities as soon as possible. The dues are increasing and adding to the debt."An official told.

ALSO READ - Celebi Aviation interested in bidding for Air India’s ground handling unit

Bird Group, Celebi Aviation, and I Squared Capital has shown interest in taking over Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL), which is a subsidiary of Air India. The other subsidiaries include Airline Allied Services Ltd (AASL) or Alliance Air, Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) and Hotel Corporation of India Ltd (HCI) which are held by Air India Assets Holding Ltd, a special purpose vehicle set up in 2019 for holding the non-core assets and debt of Air India.

Govt hopes to earn Rs 16,000 crore from the sale of 3 Air India ex-units.

Bird Group is one of the largest third-party ground handling companies based out of Delhi. Celebi Aviation Holding is a ground handling company based out of Turkey and I Squared Capital is a private equity firm focusing on global infrastructure investment.

The central government earlier this year transferred the ownership of Air India to Tata Group after the latter emerged as the winning bidder for buying the loss-making carrier.

The Rajasthan government has sanctioned INR 37.75 crore for expansion work at 10 airstrips in the state.

An official statement said Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved the fund for various airstrip development works including boundary wall construction, campus wall construction and airstrip refurbishment.

Of these, INR 14 crore will be given for shifting the mega highway and Buddha Mandavar Road and construction of a boundary wall for the Kolana (Jhalawar) airstrip, and INR 4 crore for increasing the height of the boundary wall of the Abu Road (Sirohi) airstrip and other works there.

INR 37.75 crore was sanctioned for the development & expansion of 10 airstrips of Rajsthan

As much as INR 1.97 crore has been allocated for works at the Phalodi (Jodhpur) airstrip, INR 3.40 crore for the Talwara (Banswara) airstrip, INR 4.60 crore for the Padihara (Churu) airstrip, INR 4.50 crore for the Sirohi airstrip.

The government allocated INR 2 crore each for the Tarapura (Sikar) airstrip and the Kumher (Bharatpur) airstrip, INR 1.23 crore for the Sawai Madhopur airstrip and INR 5 lakh for the Hamirgarh (Bhilwara) airstrip.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) plans to connect more than 50 wildlife and tourism destinations in the next stage of the regional connectivity initiative Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN).

ALSO READ - UDAN 5.0 to air connect 54 wildlife and tourism destinations

The government has prepared a list of potential airports. Most of these destinations already have either an underserved or unserved airstrip.

It has identified 54 new destinations for the next phase of the scheme. The fifth phase of the scheme — is to be called UDAN 5.0. — will aim to add or revive airstrips closer to wildlife sanctuaries, tourist destinations or spiritual places. 

The government has prepared a list of potential airports. Most of these destinations already have either an underserved or unserved airstrip.

The list includes 10 airstrips, which are near wildlife sanctuaries like Ranthambore (Sawai Madhopur) and Bharatpur in Rajasthan, Bishnupur, also cultural destinations in West Bengal, Yavatmal in Maharashtra, Satna, Dhana and Mandla in Madhya Pradesh and  Nagarjuna Sagar in Andhra Pradesh. 

Air India on Monday, September 12 said it will progressively induct 30 new aircraft, including 5 wide-body Boeing planes, from December 2022, as the Tatas-owned airline looks to boost its domestic and international services.

The airline has signed leases and letters of intent for inducting 5 wide-body Boeing and 25 Airbus narrow-body planes over the next 15 months. The planes being leased include 21 Airbus A320 neos, 4 Airbus A321 neos and 5 Boeing B777-200LRs.

ALSO READ - Air India in process of expanding the fleet for the upcoming holidays; plans to lease B777s from Delta

Air India to revamp its fleet by leasing 30 aircraft in the upcoming months

Changing its business model, Air India has decided to introduce a premium economy class in all newly-leased planes. Air India's existing fleet is mostly limited to economy and business class. A few planes in its fleet also have first class.

Vistara, which is a 51:49 joint venture of the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, is the only other airline in India that offers premium economy class.

"These new aircraft, which will enter service from late 2022, will increase the airline's fleet by over 25%. Not counting the 10 long-grounded narrow-body and 6 wide-body aircraft that have been returned to service in recent months, these new aircraft mark the first major fleet expansion since Air India's acquisition by the Tata Group earlier this year."Air India

The B777-200LRs will join the fleet between December 2022 and March 2023. They will be deployed on routes from Indian metro cities to the US.

ALSO READ - Air India plans to lease B777s for long-haul flights to North America

Mumbai will see the addition of flights to San Francisco as well as to both of the New York area's international airports, Newark Liberty and John F Kennedy, while Bangalore will receive a 3x weekly service to San Francisco.

Changing its business model, Air India has decided to introduce a premium economy class in all newly-leased planes.

There has been a huge demand for Air India flights on India-US and India-Canada routes, especially after the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020 and the Russia-Ukraine war earlier this year.

Since the start of the pandemic, the India-US traffic that passed through the eastern side -- one-stop flights via Hong Kong or Beijing -- has reduced significantly. After the Ukraine attack, Russia banned American and Canadian carriers from flying through its airspace. That forced many airlines to curtail their India-US flights.

"After a long time without significant growth, Air India is delighted to resume expanding its fleet and global footprint. These new aircraft, together with existing aircraft being returned to service, address an immediate need for more capacity and connectivity, and mark a strong step forward."Campbell Wilson, CEO and Managing Director, Air India

"These aircraft will result in Air India offering Premium Economy haul flights for the first time," the statement said. According to the release, the 4 A321 neo aircraft are expected to join the fleet in the first quarter of the calendar year 2023, while the 21 A320 neos will be inducted in the second half of 2023.

These aircraft will be deployed in domestic sectors as well as for short-haul international destinations.

Air India's wide-body fleet stands at 43 aircraft, of which 33 are operational.

Currently, the airline's narrow-body fleet stands at 70 aircraft. Out of them, 54 are in service and the remaining 16 aircraft will progressively return to service by early 2023. Air India's wide-body fleet stands at 43 aircraft, of which 33 are operational. The rest will return to service by early 2023.

Air India will redesign flight schedules, hold nightly meetings, and ask employees to accurately report flight delays and their causes to improve the carriers’ on-time performance (OTP), Campbell had said earlier this month.

The Tata Group on October 8 last year won the bid for Air India at INR 18,000 crore and it completed the acquisition earlier this year.

What is Advanced Air Mobility?

According to NASA, Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is "a system of air transportation that transfers people and freight between places previously not serviced or underserved by aviation - local, regional, intraregional, and urban - employing revolutionary new aircraft that are only just now becoming feasible." Being at the intersection of three emerging trends—electrification, distributed propulsion, and autonomy—it is aerospace's newest market and, in recent years, the one that has spurred the bulk of innovation.

With all the buzz around UAM, it's time to focus on how this vision might eventually come to fruition. The goal includes both new system technologies and aircraft designs. Some of the new aircraft designs are expected to have features like vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability for commuting in urban areas.

It may be conceivable for these operations to be used more frequently and in more places as a result of the development of electric VTOLs (eVTOLs) and distributed electric propulsion (DEP). Initial operations, according to industry experts, will be flown by a pilot in command (PIC) on the VTOL aircraft. The potential for totally autonomous sky transportation using remote PICs is seen in the future.

Joby's Aviation S4 | Representative | eVTOLnews

In a report recently released by ResearchAndMarkets.com titled "Urban Air Mobility Market Size, Share, Study By Component, By Operations By Range, And Segment Forecasts," it is predicted that by 2028, the market for air metro will be viable and may even displace more traditional modes of public transportation like buses and subways.

According to the report, the market for urban air transportation is expanding most quickly in Europe. In addition, it is anticipated that the global market for urban air transportation will grow to $7.9 billion by 2030.

Airbus A3, AIRSPACEX, Carter Aviation, Passenger Drone, Lilium Aviation, Volocopter, Aurora Flight Sciences (A Boeing Company), Joby Aviation, Workhorse, Delorean Aerospace, XTI Aircraft, AviaNovations, and Embraer are just a few businesses that have created eVTOL prototypes.

Why it matters?

The future of UAM is touted to offer a solution to one of the largest issues facing the globe today- namely traffic and has many advantages over existing modes of transportation in the form of reduced infrastructure needs, comfortability, and trip time.

VoloCity | Representative | Radio Colona

Air taxis are envisioned as a speedier, and perhaps more effective, alternative to land travel for intercity or intracity transit. They are mostly used for short-distance travel and are not intended to replace aeroplanes.

Headwinds ahead

With urban air mobility, there are still issues to be solved, just like with any new technology or system. For instance, the public needs to be convinced of the safety of eVTOL technology. Compared to driving, air travel has a far lower accident rate, but there are also many more risks.

Especially considering that businesses want these cars to operate automatically and without a pilot. Before sufficient trust can be established between this technology and its user, it can take a lengthy time.

Representative | Fox News

Air taxis, unlike cars, would not be able to transport passengers from point A to point B directly. It would be from one station to another instead. This implies that to produce an effective and seamless travel experience, integration across various modes of transportation would need to be put into practice. Otherwise, it might appear less practical to fly somewhere only to need to change vehicles to go where you're going.

The AAM industry has about 700 participants, and more are joining every week. Additionally, venture finance, private equity, SPACs, automotive firms, long-standing aerospace OEMs, and tech firms have all made sizeable investments in OEMs.

However, there is a sizable degree of healthy scepticism present with the enthusiasm that greets every new business. How can businesses, suppliers, and investors quickly determine which companies will dominate the industry and which ones will not be as successful as they had planned given all the new arrivals and interest in the sector?

Is the AAM infrastructure suitable for the impending commercial service now that the first vehicles are only a few years away from certification?

Presenting the AAM Reality Index (ARI)

The ARI is a rating tool that is based on a formula that incorporates both expert knowledge and information that is available to the general public. It aids in determining how well newcomers to the market are doing in terms of delivering certified goods produced in large quantities.

wsimg

As can be seen above;

Corporate sponsors include AIRBUS, EAVIATION (TEXTRON), HONDA MOTOR COMPANY, PIPISTREL (TEXTRON), SUPERNAL, and VOLKSWAGENKITTY HAWK is financed privatelyEstimated pre-acquisition financing data for ELECTRA, pre-Boeing 2022 investment funding data for WISK, and pre-SPAC funding data for EVE HOLDING

March 2022 release | AAM Reality Index

How is the ARI determined? How do you interpret the ratings?

The ARI is based on five factors:

the company's fundingits management teamthe technology readiness of its vehiclesthe status of those vehicles' certificationthe readiness of those vehicles for full-scale manufacturing

The methodology rates each applicant from 0 to 10 points.

As there is clustering at particular periods in the product lifecycle, a one decimal point to distinguish across entrants is deployed. An organisation that is only considering the market with little to no finance is represented as a 0 on the ARI tool.

A corporation with a commercial product produced in thousands of units annually is represented by a 10 on the ARI tool. No business could now create 10,000 vehicles annually since no one in the aerospace industry can do so.

Vehicle Configuration(s)

aamrealityindex

Possible EIS (Entry Into Service) of various eVTOL companies

Early innovators, lesser-known companies, and aircraft OEMs make up the eVTOL sector (OEMs). Vehicles go between 20 and 250 n.m. at speeds between 70 and 250 mph. with rotor/pusher or tilt-rotor configurations. Because intracity UAM is a new company, prospective participants intend to be both operators and OEMs.

Many eVTOLs aims for EIS and aeroplane certification in 2024–2026. The method is drawn-out and difficult. The approval of protocols for pilot training, facilities, and maintenance are also necessary.

SOURCE(s): aamrealityindex | SMG consulting

COVER: Global Times