Emergency Airworthiness Directive issued for Trent 900

November 11, 2010

The European Aviation Safety Agency have released Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) 2010-0236-E requiring operators of Trent 900 engines to perform inspections of their engines.

The Directive is applicable to the following engine variants: RB211 Trent 900 series engines, variants RB211 Trent 970-84, RB211Trent 970B-84, RB211 Trent 972-84, RB211 Trent 972B-84, RB211 Trent977-84, RB211 Trent 977B-84 and RB211 Trent 980-84, all serialnumbers.These engines are known to be installed on, but not limited to, AirbusA380 series aeroplanes.

Reason: An uncontained engine failure has recently occurred on a Rolls-RoyceTrent 900 involving release of high energy debris and leading to damage to the aeroplane.Analysis of the preliminary elements from the incident investigation showsthat an oil fire in the HP/IP structure cavity may have caused the failure ofthe Intermediate Pressure Turbine (IPT) Disc.This condition, if not detected, could ultimately result in uncontained engine failure potentially leading to damage to the aeroplane and hazardsto persons or property on the ground.For the reasons described above and pending conclusion of the incidentinvestigation, this AD requires repetitive inspections of the Low PressureTurbine (LPT) stage 1 blades and case drain, HP/IP structure air buffercavity and oil service tubes in order to detect any abnormal oil leakage,and if any discrepancy is found, to prohibit further engine operation.The requirements of this AD are considered as interim action. If, as a result of the on-going incident investigation, a terminating action is later identified, further mandatory actions might be considered.

Required as indicated, unless accomplished previously:

(1) Within the compliance times indicated in Table 1 of this AD, accomplish the following actions in accordance with Rolls-RoyceNon Modification Service Bulletin (NMSB) 72-AG590, Par 3. Accomplishment Instructions, 3.A or 3.B as applicable to the engine configuration:

(1.1) Carry out an extended ground idle run.

(1.2) Inspect the Low Pressure Turbine (LPT) stage 1 blades andcase drain.(1.3) Inspect the HP/IP structure air buffer cavity and oil service tubes.

(2) If any discrepancy is found during the inspections required by paragraph (1) of this AD, any further engine operation is prohibited. Within one day after the accomplishment of the inspection, report the findings to Rolls-Royce.

(3) Inspections accomplished in accordance with the content of NMSB72-AG590 before the effective date of this AD, are acceptable to comply with the initial inspections required by this AD.

(4) After the effective date of this AD, do not operate an engine on an aeroplane unless it has been inspected in accordance with the requirements of this AD.

The Aviation Herald points out that:

An oil fire possibly similiar to the Qantas Trent 972 led to an uncontained engine failure of a Trent 772 engine on Edelweiss’ Airbus A330-200 registration HB-IQZ near Miami, see Final Report: Edelweiss A330 at Miami on Oct 5th 2003, uncontained engine failure during departure. In their safety recommendations released in December 2006 following the conclusion of the investigation the NTSB wrote:

“Disassembly of the No. 1 engine revealed evidence of heat damage and distress in the HP/IP turbine bearing chamber consistent with the presence of an oil fire. Microstructure examination of the fracture surfaces on the IP turbine disk drive arm revealed damage consistent with a localized fire that caused the drive arm to eventually fail and separate, allowing the IP turbine disk to overspeed. The overspeed condition resulted in the liberation of all IP turbine disk blades through the IP turbine case, with some blades striking the airplane. Because thermal damage within the HP/IP turbine bearing chamber and associated hardware prevented identifying the exact cause of the fire based solely on the physical evidence from the No. 1 engine, the No. 2 engine was examined to help establish possible causes or contributors to the bearing chamber fire in the No. 1 engine.

A borescope inspection of the No. 2 engine revealed that the HP/IP turbine bearing chamber internal vent tube was obstructed with a black substance. An airflow check of the vent tube revealed that the air passage was not completely blocked. A nondestructive three-dimensional neutron tomography analysis revealed that the substance was not solid and was characterized by nodules of carbon deposits (also known as coke) with areas of voids. Although coke formations within oil tubes are not uncommon, the morphology, amount, and location of the carbon deposits found in the vent tube of the No. 2 engine were unusual and inconsistent with coke formation seen on other Trent engines or from other service experiences.”

The NTSB had concluded in April 2006 the probable cause of the Trent 772’s failure was:
“the coking (carbon build-up) in a vent tube which led to a fire and the subsequent liberation of the IP turbine blades. Contributing to the cause of the uncontained engine failure was the absence of measures to adequately monitor the in-service performance of a new engine/oil combination.”

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Asian Games in China: Spectators must conform to etiquette but cheering still allowed!

November 11, 2010

The 16th Asiad begins tomorrow (Friday) in Guangshou.

The organisers have published the rules that must be followed by all spectators prominently outside all stadiums:

AFP reports:

The list (of banned items), prominently displayed outside venues, includes whistles, lighters and matches, drink, food in large amounts that can be easily thrown, balls, rackets, frisbees and balloons.

A local government official confirmed that the plastic trumpet, (the Vuvuzela) often in garish colours, will be banned from all venues.

Zhang Youquan, deputy director of the Civilisation Office of the Guangzhou government, named the vuvuzela amid the list of banned items. According to a report by the Guangzhou Daily, spectators violating etiquette during the Games featuring 45 countries and regions competing in 42 sports will be advised by volunteers, and may be referred to security if they refuse to obey the rules.

The (vuvuzelas) have since (the World Cup) been banned by UEFA, European football’s governing body, and by several English Premier League club grounds, as well as at the Commonwealth Games last month in New Delhi.

Cheering is still allowed but should not get too boisterous!

But Chinese athletes will also have to be on their best behaviour. In a separate report AFP reports:

Thousands of athletes began settling in for the Asian Games Thursday, but for one man it has been a nightmare start after a humbling apology to China for calling fans “a bunch of dogs”.

The Olympic Council of Asia officially confirmed the 16th Asiad as the biggest ever with 9,704 athletes and nearly 5,000 team officials in the booming southern Chinese city. Among them are dozens of Olympic and world champions with Chinese superstars Liu Xiang (110m hurdles) and Lin Dan (badminton) and Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima among the biggest names.

With athletes from 45 countries and regions competing for 476 gold medals, tensions are starting to build ahead of the opening ceremony on Friday and the official start of competition Saturday, when 28 titles will be decided.

While most athletes were enjoying the atmosphere, Chinese football goalkeeper Wang Dalei was not one of them after sparking outrage for calling home fans “morons” and “a bunch of dogs”. The highly-rated 21-year-old, linked with European champions Inter Milan and big-spending Manchester City, let loose on a micro-blogging site after being singled out for his failure to stop Japan’s second goal on Monday.

After being suspended by the Chinese delegation – and dropped for Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Kyrgyzstan – he issued an apology. Cai Jiadong, secretary general of the Chinese Asian Games delegation, said Wang’s action were “unsportsmanlike and irrational and hurt the feelings of Chinese soccer fans.”

The football competition got underway last Sunday, the only event to start ahead of the official opening of a mulit-sports event traditionally dominated by China, Japan and South Korea.

The Games run until November 27


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Geoengineering possibilities threaten the CO2 reduction advocates

November 11, 2010

The global warming brigade and their funding is dependant upon carbon dioxide being considered a villain and being banned. Global warming dogma does not like geoengineering solutions which may make doomsday scenarios irrelevant.

When geo-engineering – that is human intervention directed to adapting to climate  – suggests ways in which we could successfully keep climatic conditions suitable for human development, the global warmists are appalled. To suggest alternatives to banning carbon dioxide suddenly creates “ethical issues” whereas alarmism and doomsday scenarios do not!!

But if it is unintended human intervention which creates a problem then surely it is the only “right and proper” course to use intended human intervention to rectify the situation (even though man-made carbon dioxide is of little significance and totally irrelevant as far as climate change is concerned).

In fact – I would suggest – it is unethical to stifle human ingenuity and the march of technology.

Human development cannot be based on “not doing something”. Strategy must be based on the positive choice of “what to do” which may – as a consequence – lead to certain other things not being done. But when environmentalism or conservation or climate change lead only to lists of “what not to do” they degenerate into cowardice where actions are subordinated to “fear” and  lose credibility.

The Guardian tells us:

The problem is that proposals to geo-engineer the climate come loaded with social and ethical concerns. Is it acceptable to intentionally intervene in the volatile climate system? How would it be governed? What would prevent the abuse of climate-controlling technologies, and whose hand would be on the global thermostat?

Geoengineering or climate engineering solution to climate change: marine cloud whitening

A geoengineering solution:Spraying seawater droplets into marine clouds from ships could make them reflect more sunlight. Photograph: Nasa

The growing number of scientists working on different aspects of geo-engineering research – from climate modelling, to lab experiments with reflective particles that could be injected into the stratosphere – are anxious to emphasise that they are not geo-engineering cheerleaders. They simply want to understand the pros and cons of different technologies, in case the day came when they might be needed, a day they hope will never come.

The Royal Society itself has taken great care to indicate that it does not advocate geo-engineering – and certainly not in the place of deep global cuts in greenhouse gases. But it does advocate research on geo-engineering, and that’s where the dilemma for many scientists kicks in.

On the one hand, it is clearly prudent to understand more about geo-engineering – the worst of all scenarios would involve a government deploying a technology without knowing what its effects would be. Initial evidence suggests that spraying the skies with reflective particles of sulphate would have a major impact on patterns of rainfall. Surely it is better to know this sooner rather than later?

On the other hand, conducting research on geo-engineering is one of the main factors that will make the deployment of the technologies more likely. Most scientists are deeply sceptical about the use of such “remedial” action on global warming. But scientists won’t be the ones to decide whether the technology is used. So are they unwittingly clearing the path for future deployment?

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Misguided solar subsidies favoured the wealthy

November 11, 2010

Further confirmation that subsidies in general are counter productive and in the case of solar panels in Australia were misguided:

From ABC News:

A new report has found the Federal Government’s billion-dollar subsidies for solar energy favoured the wealthy and barely reduced Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. Over the past decade, successive federal governments have provided generous subsidies to households installing solar roof-top panels.

But the cost effectiveness and fairness of the solar voltaic rebate program is being questioned. Andrew Macintosh, the associate director of the Australian National University’s Centre for Climate Law and Policy, has reviewed the program. He says it has barely reduced Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, and it has favoured the rich. “What we found was that the cost of the program was very high,” he said. “It cost the government about $1.1 billion. For that we got about a six-fold increase in solar generation, but still solar constituted only 0.1 per cent of total generation, so a relatively small technology in the overall grid,” he said.

“We’ve been handing out a lot of subsidies for solar systems, but the most people who pick up these subsidies tend to be from wealthier households … and as a result we’re basically providing middle and upper class welfare.”

In June last year the Federal Government cancelled the program at short notice.

 

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G20 kicks off today and currency war fears dominate

November 11, 2010

As countries jostle to weaken their currencies to stimulate growth, this G20 meeting in Seoul, Korea may not achieve much new. All agree that other countries should not engage in currency manipulation but each country wants to retain the right to do so. My reading is that if currencies followed the actual situation on the ground then the Dollar and Chinese Yuan ought to appreciate, the Yen should depreciate and the Euro should stay roughly where it is balanced between the German strength and the Ireland effect. The Indian Rupee and the Brazilian Real are probably undervalued as well.

Alan Greenspan continues to have his unsettling effect on the world economy.

"YES" Currency symbols sculpture:

Reuters:

Rancorous debate over global economic imbalances and currency strains dogged the G20 as world leaders gathered for a summit in Seoul on Thursday despite U.S. efforts to shore up the group’s unity. Behind the scenes, negotiators squabbled over the language in a closing statement to be issued at the summit’s conclusion on Friday. The final version may not venture far beyond agreements reached by G20 finance ministers last month, yet it was still proving difficult to agree on the wording.

A major irritant in the run-up to the meeting was the U.S. Federal Reserve’s bond-buying spree to revive the economy. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan stirred that pot, saying the United States was pursuing a policy of weakening the dollar.

“The U.S. will never do that,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner shot back a few hours later in an interview with CNBC. “We will never seek to weaken our currency as a tool to gain competitive advantage or to grow the economy.”

China’s yuan, also known as the renminbi, rose 0.25 percent on Thursday and has climbed almost 3 percent since Beijing loosened its grip on the tightly managed currency in June. Washington has welcomed the slow-but-steady appreciation, although it has said more movement is needed.

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Son of Hubble may not launch till after 2015

November 11, 2010

Earlier this year it became clear the the son of Hubble the James Webb Space Telescope, was late and over budget. Costs had ballooned to 5 billion dollars (from the earlier 3.5 billion dollars) and launch was expected in 2014. It has now been acknowledged that costs will be not less than 6.5 billion dollars and launch even in 2015 is optimistic. The management is now being changed and reorganised.

The BBC has the story:

The scale of the delay and cost overrun blighting Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope has been laid bare by a panel called in to review the project. The successor to Hubble will probably cost at least $6.5bn to launch and operate, and may get into orbit by September 2015.

But even that assessment is optimistic, say the panel members. The head of the US space agency has accepted that “cost performance and coordination have been lacking”. Charles Bolden has ordered a reorganising of the project and has changed the management at its top. Estimates for JWST’s total cost to build, launch and operate have steadily increased over the years from $3.5bn to $5bn. Along with the cost growth, the schedule has also eroded.

The most recent projected launch of 2014 has looked under pressure for some time. The independent panel chaired by John Casani of Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, believes it to be unrealistic. The group was convened to examine the root causes of JWST’s problems. It found the original budget for the project to be insufficient and poorly phased, and blamed the management for failing to pick up and deal with the issue.

“This is a very large complex project and to estimate something with any real degree of precision that’s never been done before is a tough job,” John Casani told reporters. “But the bottom line is that there was never enough money in the budget to execute the work that was required. The panel did however commend the technical success of the project. Mr Casani said the technology on JWST was in “very good shape”. The telescope was always regarded as major undertaking. Its primary mirror is 6.5m (21ft) across – close to three times wider than Hubble’s. The huge reflector will sit behind an even more expansive sun shield, the area of a tennis court. This structure will protect the observatory from radiation from the Sun and the Earth. Whereas Hubble sees the Universe mostly in visible light, JWST will observe the cosmos at longer wavelengths, in the infrared. It will see deeper into space and further back in time, to the very first population of stars.

When it is finally built, it will be launched on Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket and sent to an observing position 1.5 million km from Earth. It is expected to have a 10-year lifespan. Its distance from Earth means the telescope cannot be serviced by astronauts, as was the case with Hubble.

Herschel (BBC)

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Now Boeing 787 Dreamliner delayed by fire on test flight

November 11, 2010
2nd Boeing 787 First Flight

First flight of Boeing 787 No.2: Image via Wikipedia

An electrical fire could have a myriad of causes and does not necessarily have any fundamental design implications, but the Dreamliner does not need further delays even for fairly trivial faults.

The Press Association reports:

Boeing has grounded its test fleet of new 787 passenger jets while it investigates an electrical fire that forced one of the planes to make an emergency landing. On Tuesday, a 787 on a six-hour test flight had to make an emergency landing in Texas after the crew reported smoke in the rear of the plane.

Boeing said it would take several days to analyse flight data and stopped flights for all of its 787 test planes “until we better understand the cause of the incident”. Spokeswoman Loretta Gunter said it is not yet clear how long it will be until test flights resumed. “We don’t have a schedule in mind right now,” she said.

The company plans ground tests on the planes while they are not flying.

Ms Gunter said the fire started in a power control panel in a rear electronics bay on the test plane. Boeing is inspecting the power panel and the area around it to see if other repairs are needed. The fire cut the plane’s electrical power. Boeing said back-up systems including a ram air turbine – essentially a wind-powered generator – functioned as expected.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating Tuesday’s incident and the National Transportation Safety Board is monitoring the situation but has not sent investigators to the scene.

It is the latest setback for a plane that is already about three years behind schedule. Boeing had hoped to deliver the first 787, which it calls the Dreamliner, to Japan’s All Nippon Airways in the first quarter of next year.

“We are committed to finding the cause quickly but will not rush the technical team in its efforts,” the company said.

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“KPMG are stupid” – How valuations are made

November 11, 2010

Sydney Morning Herald.

KPMG and regulators are too stupid to notice if an asset is overvalued and investment bankers are leeches, say the characters in an online video lampooning the working culture inside international investment banks.

I have seen how the Big 4 accounting firms behave over the last 30 years and this video thought to be made by employees of an investment bank is not so far away from reality.

SMH continues:

BusinessDay is not implying these events took place, but our source claims the videos were made as an in joke by current staff of a large multinational investment bank for former employees. Another video pokes fun at job descriptions in the corporate world after one of the characters meets a “business accelerator”, who was “somewhat vague in his description of his services, but he was very compelling”.

“Investment bankers are generally perceived to be sharks,” the man then says.

“We are also leeches, but we are leeches with a lot of smaller leeches clinging to our backs,” the lady responds.

The videos end with investment bankers heading out for a typical after-work activity – drinking beer and playing ping pong.

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DNA evidence shows farming was not indigenous but was imported into Europe from the East

November 10, 2010

A new paper published in PLoS Biology today uses “high precision ancient DNA methods” to  create a detailed genetic picture of one of the first farming communities in Europe (from central Germany) which reveals that this ancient farming population was radically different to the nomadic populations already present in Europe.

Haak W, Balanovsky O, Sanchez JJ, Koshel S, Zaporozhchenko V, et al. (2010) Ancient DNA from European Early Neolithic Farmers Reveals Their Near Eastern Affinities. PLoS Biol 8(11): e1000536. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000536

The hunter-gatherers of Europe it seems did not change rapidly to become farmers. The farmers moved in (invaded?) from the near east and some 8,000 years ago gradually dominated the scene. From Science Daily:

A team of international researchers led by ancient DNA experts from the University of Adelaide has resolved the longstanding issue of the origins of the people who introduced farming to Europe some 8000 years ago. A detailed genetic study of one of the first farming communities in Europe, from central Germany, reveals marked similarities with populations living in the Ancient Near East (modern-day Turkey, Iraq and other countries) rather than those from Europe.

Project leader Professor Alan Cooper, Director of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) at the University of Adelaide, says: “This overturns current thinking, which accepts that the first European farming populations were constructed largely from existing populations of hunter-gatherers, who had either rapidly learned to farm or interbred with the invaders.”

“We have finally resolved the question of who the first farmers in Europe were — invaders with revolutionary new ideas, rather than populations of Stone Age hunter-gatherers who already existed in the area,” says lead author Dr Wolfgang Haak, Senior Research Associate with ACAD at the University of Adelaide. “We have also been able to use genetic signatures to identify a potential route from the Near East and Anatolia, where farming evolved around 11,000 years ago, via south-eastern Europe and the Carpathian Basin (today’s Hungary) into Central Europe,” Dr Haak says.

The Author summary:

The transition from a hunter–gatherer existence to a sedentary farming-based lifestyle has had key consequences for human groups around the world and has profoundly shaped human societies. Originating in the Near East around 11,000 y ago, an agricultural lifestyle subsequently spread across Europe during the New Stone Age (Neolithic). Whether it was mediated by incoming farmers or driven by the transmission of innovative ideas and techniques remains a subject of continuing debate in archaeology, anthropology, and human population genetics. Ancient DNA from the earliest farmers can provide a direct view of the genetic diversity of these populations in the earliest Neolithic. Here, we compare Neolithic haplogroups and their diversity to a large database of extant European and Eurasian populations. We identified Neolithic haplotypes that left clear traces in modern populations, and the data suggest a route for the migrating farmers that extends from the Near East and Anatolia into Central Europe. When compared to indigenous hunter–gatherer populations, the unique and characteristic genetic signature of the early farmers suggests a significant demographic input from the Near East during the onset of farming in Europe.

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New Merapi ash forces Obama to curtail visit, causes more flight cancellations

November 10, 2010

President Obama will cut short his visit to Indonesia by two hours to be able to meet a take-off window created by further ash eruptions from Mount Merapi volcano (431 km from Jakarta) last night and today. Some international flights to Jakarta on Wednesday and Thursday have been cancelled.

The Jakarta Globe.

Mount Merapi erupting again on Wednesday. Four airlines, including Qantas and Malaysia Air, have canceled flights to Jakarta. Some international flights to Bali have also been affected. (EPA Photo)

Mount Merapi erupting again on Wednesday. Four airlines, including Qantas and Malaysia Air, have canceled flights to Jakarta. Some international flights to Bali have also been affected. (EPA Photo)

Indonesia’s Merapi volcano has forced a number of international airlines to cancel flights over concerns about air safety. The volcanic eruptions in central Java also forced United States President Barack Obama to cut short his visit to the country. Obama sliced several hours off his whirlwind 24-hour tour Wednesday.

Mount Merapi, hundreds of kilometers east of Jakarta, has been spewing massive clouds of ash and gas high into the air for more than two weeks, killing at least 153 people and causing travel chaos and forcing two nearby airports to shut down. Syaiful Bahri, who oversees operations at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, says that concerns about the ash also forced several international carriers to again cancel flights into and out of the capital. Among them were Cathay Pacific, Value Air, Qantas and Malaysia Air.
An Indonesian government volcanologist said the pace of the eruption had slowed, but Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific and Australia’s Qantas canceled flights because of the ash. Cathay said it had canceled flights to and from Jakarta on Wednesday and Thursday, while Qantas canceled a Sydney-Jakarta service on Wednesday. “Cathay Pacific will monitor and assess the situation and the possibility of operating flights,” the airline said on its website Wednesday. Jetstar, the low-cost offshoot of Qantas, has also changed its flight schedule for services to the Indonesian island of Bali, canceling flights that arrive at or depart from the popular holiday destination at night.
Officials said safety worries about the ash also meant Yogyakarta airport would stay closed until Monday next week at the earliest.

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