Ian Sheppard has acted as Editor International Show Editions for AIN since June 2013. Based in the Redhill, England, Ian reports for the various AIN publications as well as providing support to International Editor Charles Alcock in covering international air shows (such as Farnborough, Paris, Singapore and Dubai), and the EBACE and MEBA business aviation events. His central role is to cover Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Prior to becoming more involved with AIN in mid-2011 (initially as deputy international editor), Ian worked for various aviation publications through his company, First Aerospace Media. This included being part of the AIN team covering daily news at international air shows.
Ian has worked for publications such as Flight International (technical reporter, 1997-8) and Aerospace International (editor, 1999-2000). He was publications manager at Airclaims (Ascend) between 2000 and 2004 before forming First Aerospace Media. Since mid-2009 Ian has also been managing editor of Regional International, the journal of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA).
Ian hasis working towards a European commercial pilot licence, having held an FAA private pilot license in 1991, and instructor rating. He also has a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Bath, England, and a graduate diploma in law from Kingston University, and is a graduate of the legal practice course (College of Law, Guildford).

Editor

Ian Sheppard

Rolls-Royce says its Trent XWB engine—which powers the Airbus A350-900 and -1000, as the XWB-84 and XWB 97, respectively—is now well into production with the 500th-engine mark passed last month. Around 45 operators and four lessors have received A350 XWB aircraft since service entry in January 2015, said Tim Boddy, head of Trent XWB marketing.

 


The Trent XWB is the sixth member of the Trent family of three-shaft aero engines and is manufactured at Rolls' facilities in Derby, UK, and Dahlewitz, Germany. “We’ve ramped up rates for the XWB 84 and 97 and now we are beyond five engines a week,” Boddy said, adding that the two-million-flight-hour point has now been reached for the XWB-84 fleet, “up from one million at the time of the Dubai Air Show last year.”

 


Rolls said dispatch reliability has been 99.9 percent, with zero in-flight shutdowns. The A350-100 with the XWB-97 entered service earlier this year and has continued the good record—a relief to the Derby-based company that has been grappling with issues with Trent 1000 engines that power Boeing 787s, leading to many disgruntled operators having to ground aircraft until a fix is installed.

 


“We have enjoyed the smoothest entry into service of any widebody engine and we continue to see the engine achieving market-leading levels of reliability,” said Gareth Davies, Trent XWB program director for civil aerospace.

 


<h2>Rolls at Farnborough</h2>

 


Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce president–civil aerospace, said: “A huge amount has happened in the two years since the last Farnborough Airshow. We have introduced no fewer than four engines to the market—the Trent 1000 TEN, the Trent XWB-97, the Pearl 15, and the Trent 7000, the latter which is making its debut appearance here at Farnborough, powering the Airbus A330neo.”

 


He admitted the company has “faced some significant challenges, too, notably with our Trent 1000 fleet. We sincerely regret the disruption caused by the need for additional checks and maintenance on these engines and we continue to be intensely focused on resolving the issues our customers face. We have now begun certification testing of the redesigned rotor blade for Trent 1000 Package C engines, with redesigns for other Trent 1000 engines following closely behind."

 


Turning back to the XWB, Cholerton added, “Our strong position on new widebody aircraft is driving substantial growth across our civil aerospace business. Customer feedback on the Trent XWB-84 on the A350-900 has been very positive and the Trent XWB-97 is now powering three Airbus A350-1000 aircraft in service and is doing so with full ETOPs capability.

 


“The Trent 1000 TEN fleet continues to power a growing fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and we’re looking forward to the Trent 7000 receiving full certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) imminently.”

 


He concluded that the company’s goal continues to be “achieving more than 50 percent market share in the widebody sector by the early 2020s, up from just 14 percent in 2000.”

 


In addition to a wide variety of Rolls-Royce powered aircraft on display this week at Farnborough 2018, Rolls-Royce is exhibiting in Hall 4 (Stand 41394) with its focus being on the “IntelligentEngine,” UltraFan, and the new Pearl family of engines." The Pearl launched at the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition in Geneva in May, alongside the unveiling of the new Bombardier Global 5500/6500.

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