FARNBOROUGH: Canada Advances Biofuel Testing with Dassault Falcon 20 and Vintage T-33 Trainer
(FlightGlobal) The National Research Council (NRC) of Canada has for the first time conducted biofuel test flights using chase aircraft to measure the emissions. The campaign is among a number of different projects which the government research and development body is presenting at Farnborough this year.
The biofuel test flights were completed in May and June 2012 using a Canadian-gown feedstock based on brassica carinata. NRC’s flight research laboratory employed its Dassault Falcon 20 to test the fuel and a Lockheed T-33 vintage jet trainer to trail the business aircraft and measure its emissions in real time.
Stewart Baillie, director of the institute’s flight research laboratory, says the Falcon crew was able to switch back and forth between standard Jet A1 and the biofuel blend with Jet A1. This showed that the biofuel emissions comprised “significantly less” particulate matter, such as black carbon and sulphate, than Jet A1, he says. The results are preliminary and a full assessment is underway before NRC publishes its final report.
…No difference was detected by the pilots when they changed between conventional Jet A1 and biofuel. Bailey says that the crew reported that the aircraft’s performance was “indistinguishable” during a range of ground and flight operations, including engine restarts at altitude. READ MORE and MORE (AIN Online)
