Category: Aviation

JSF Engine Update

No Comments

The F136 alternate engine was running on the test stand, and sustained minor damage, which led people to rumors that the combustor needed to be redesigned.

It now turns out that the problem is much less severe than originally reported. The damage was from a lug that attaches the diffuser to the combustor that came loose during testing.

Obviously, this is not something that you want happening on an aircraft in flight, though the damage was minor, and not noticed until the engine was torn down after a test run, but it’s a not uncommon thing to have happen at this state of the development process.

And While We are On the Tanker…..

No Comments

Both Boeing and Northrop/Grumman-EADS are expressing serious concerns on the USAF’s draft tanker Request for Proposals (RFP). (paid subscription required)

We have Northrop’s complaint that Boeing got Northrop’s detailed pricing data when it made its challenge on the last contract, and Boeing is complaining that there requirements are all weighted identically:

The draft RFP places equal value on non-essential and essential qualities—such as sink and toilet water flow and fuel offload or past performance—respectively. “If everything is important, is anything important?” [Boeing business development vice president Mitchell] Waldman said. “In this competition, risk is essentially pass/fail.” In the last competition, key requirements were weighed as well as past performance and risk.

There are also complaints from Boeing that have not been released to the public.

The Secretary of the Airforce has stated that he is open to changing the RFP, but that would invite a repeat of the last clusterf$#@ on tanker procurement.

When Comparing the Tanker Proposals

No Comments

It would be a good thing to remember that Italy has still not received its 767 tankers, because there are problems with the centerline hose and drogue.

Boeing’s delivery of 767 tanker aircraft to the Italian Air Force has slipped again as the company fixes a problem with the hose-and-drogue refueling system, a senior Italian defense source said.

Italy ordered four tankers in 2002, with deliveries first expected in 2005, before a series of hitches, including vibrations in wing pylons, pushed the schedule back.

One of the reasons that Northrop won the last time around, was that the USAF doubted that Boeing could deliver the tankers on time and on budget.

Also note that drogue/boom thing is an area where Boeing is specifically claiming that its high level of expertise makes them uniquely suited for the contract.

An Interesting Solution to Heating in High Speed Flight

No Comments

Germany’s aerospace research center, DLR, is looking at a capillary system using water for cooling on a civilian high speed sub orbital transport

Obviously, you have the weight of the water to deal with, but with the specific heat of water being more than double that of kerosene (4.19 vs 2.01 kJ/kg K), the greater density of water ( 1000 vs. 817.15 kg/m3), and the much greater heat of vaporization (2257 vs 108 kJ/kg), there are weight savings with the associated pumps, tankage, and tubing:

An orbiter sub-scale wing leading edge section made of carbonfibre-reinforced carbon (known as carbon-carbon and developed for use in the nose cones of intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as Space Shuttle leading edges) will be water cooled. In theory the temperature of the orbiter’s wing leading edges could reach up to 2,500 Kelvin (2,227°C).

“With water you can use small amounts because it takes so much energy for a phase state change [from liquid to gas]. The leading edge will cool to the temperature of the boiling water and natural capillary action will constantly draw the fluid through the material to the surface at the rate we need,” says DLR space launcher systems analysis group research engineer Arnold Van Foreest.

Of course, the real problem here is not cooling, it’s the economics of such a transport, where the costs of transporting payload/passengers will likely be in excess of €10/kg in a best case situation, mitigate against this becoming reality.

Special Software Gives JSF 50% Lethality Boost for JSF

No Comments

Unfortunately, as Bill Sweetman laments, the software in question is:

While we’re going back and forth about the supposed sixfold advantage of the JSF over anything except the F-22, see this from a year ago:

“U.S. Air Force analyses show the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is at least 400 percent more effective in air-to-air combat capability than the best fighters currently available in the international market.”

And now it’s 600 per cent. This does of course prove convincingly that Lockheed Martin is right to suggest that the F-35’s capability will be able to be vastly improved through software alone.

That software being, in this case, PowerPoint.

…

(emphasis mine)

Mr. Sweetman owes me a screen wipe.

VIDEO: Japan TV profiles Shinshin stealth fighter – The DEW Line

No Comments
Click for full size

The trust vectoring system in the video resembles that of the X-31

Stephen Trijble came across this video of Japans for developing their own stealthy fighter.

It appears to be similar to the F-22 in configuration, and it looks like they are looking for stealth and supercruise, though the slab sides on the side of the fuselage (at about 0:25) look to my very untrained eye to be an issue, and given that it is much smaller than the F-22, to my eye less than 1/2 the weight, I’m not sure how much it would be able to carry internally.

It also looks like they have a 3-D thrust vectoring system on the the video (2:30)is very similar to that of the X-31 Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability test bed (shown in bottom picture).

It’s a wicked neat video, and the translation, while sometimes clumsy, is sufficient.

Brazilian Defense Minister Doubts Sincerity of US Technology Transfer Promises

No Comments

He talks about extensive difficulties in getting essential technology transferred as a part of contractual obligations:

According to the minister, the most controversial matter among the suppliers is the technology transfer issue and he emphasized that, in this area, the United States doesn’t a have a favorable history.

“The trouble with the United States,” he stated, “are past issues. The past is a big example of technology transfer embargo. We experience this here today at the Cetex.”

Jobim revealed that during his visit to the technological center he heard reports by military men stating that American companies would supply technology for the finishing of military equipments, such as batteries and propellers, only in ten years.

While the quote is unclear, and I think intentionally so, I believe that this is a shot across the bow regarding the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet’s AESA radar, the APG-79.

Truth be told, with the obvious issues with the Superbug’s aerodynamics, it’s the slowest of the three finalists, and the under-wing environment is noisy, hence the “splayed” arrangement of its stores pylons (see picture), required for safe stores separation, which increases drag.

Additionally, it’s significantly larger size vs. its competitors, about 20% more than the Rafale, and about double the Gripen, which necessarily increases the cost per flight hour, makes it clear that its sensor suite, and the ability for Brazil to modify these systems to meet its needs, becomes paramount to Boeing’s bid.

Korea Shows Model of Stealthy UCAV

No Comments
Click for full size

Future Stealthy Korean UCAV

Video of Concepts, H/t The DEW Line

KAI showed off its latest UCAV concept at the Seoul air show last month.

It looks pretty much like just about every stealthy UAV out there, mostly because the way that air flows, and the way that radar bounces off of objects, works the same regardless of country of origin.

One of the dirty secrets of stealth is that not only are the basic principles public, but they have been since the beginning, having first been publicized in a Soviet unclassified scientific journal.

I think that we will see a lot of these systems, particularly in an anti-ship capacity, where deterring US aircraft carriers has a lot of value on the international arms market.

USAF Tanker is Still Moving Target

No Comments

It looks like the U.S.A.F. is still open to making changes in the requirements and evaluation of proposals for the tanker program:

Halfway through the comment period for a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the U.S. Air Force’s KC-X aerial refueling tanker competition, the top civilian overseeing the armed service says it is open to making changes where needed.

The draft RFP, released Sept. 24, puts heavy emphasis on cost and includes 373 pass/fail threshold requirements for participants. It further marks a shift from previous attempts to procure the 179 tankers needed to begin replacing Eisenhower-era KC-135s, as the Pentagon is pursuing a fixed-price development contract and production profile.

Isn’t this what got the last contract award thrown out, moving targets that were deemed unfair?

Dutch Report: F-35 Numbers to be Cut

No Comments

A Dutch report is saying that the total number of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to be produced may be half of estimates, largely because of changes in warfare (UAVs) and cost escalation.

This is particularly significant for the Dutch, because one of the selling points for the aircraft to the RNAF is that the cost of their purchases will largely be offset by the revenue that Dutch companies will derive from sales of aircraft to other countries.

If the numbers go down, the price goes up, and the ratio of revenue takes a decided turn for the worse:

Rising costs, changing threats and rival aircraft — manned and unmanned — could cut nearly in half the number of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters that ultimately are built, a Dutch defense analyst said in a report to the Dutch parliament. And if fewer planes are built, the price for each, already $100 million or more, will undoubtedly increase, analyst Johan Boeder warned.

A “likely estimate” is that 2,500 F-35s eventually will be built, Boeder wrote in a report delivered to Dutch lawmakers in September. The Netherlands, one of nine countries financing the development of the F-35, was expected to buy 85 planes, but maycut that to 57, Boeder said.

I think the idea that the aircraft will cost less than $100 million at current procurement numbers is delusional, and if the numbers go down, the price goes up.

To procure a meaningful aircraft, you must with start with purchase and life-cycle costs as a primary requirement, and work back from there.

Update on Saab Bribery Donations in Korea

No Comments

The allegations are rather different from the run of the mill bribery cases, where someone pays a government official to buy their products.

Instead, it is alleged that Saab paid bribes to get information on Korea’s indigenous fighter program, so as better to compete for business.

SAAB is denying this.

The core of the allegations is that the president of the Security Management Institute (SMI), a private research company, was invited to a trade seminar in Sweden, and that SAAB covered his expenses, to the tune of $17,200.

Me, I’m just confused.

Earlier post.

Ecuadorian Helo Crash Air Show

No Comments
Click for full size



They walked away from this?

Here is the video

Thankfully, there were only minor injuries at the crash, which occurred during an armed forced day celebration, but in keeping with my policy of never letting a crash with video and a happy ending go unnoticed, here it is.

I will say that it is kind of surreal how the marching band never misses a step in the video as the helo comes down.

H/t Graham Warwick

Here’s a Shocker

No Comments

People who got laid off from Boeing have better mental health than those who remained:

Would it surprise you to learn that survivors can suffer just as much, if not more, than colleagues who get laid off? It certainly surprised a team of academic researchers who embedded themselves at Boeing (BA) from 1996 to 2006, a tumultuous decade during which the company laid off tens of thousands. The results of the study will appear next year in a Yale University Press book called Turbulence: Boeing and the State of American Workers and Managers. “How much better off the laid-off were was stunning and shocking to us,” says Sarah Moore, a University of Puget Sound industrial psychology professor who is one of the book’s four authors. “So much of the literature talks about how dreadful unemployment is.”

…

In the greatest surprise of all, the researchers discovered that the people who had been laid off often were happier than those left behind. Many had new jobs, even if they didn’t always pay as well. Over and over, Moore says, average depression scores were nearly twice as great for those who stayed with Boeing vs. those who left. The laid-off were less likely to binge drink, often slept better, and had fewer chronic health problems.

(emphasis mine)

Boeing is claiming that morale has improved since they got the new company president it, but I kind of doubt that.

BTW, this kind of morale is one of the reasons that they are having the problems that they are having with the 787: When you outsource basic engineering to another firm, people in your firm, don’t make the extra effort to examine things that look funny to them.

Were they Boinking Each Other?

No Comments

Have you heard about Northwest flight 188?

They missed Minneapolis. They overflew it, then turned, and returned to land at the airport, and the plane was promptly swarmed by cops.

The facts that we know are that the flight lost contact with air traffic controllers for over an hour, that they over-flew Minneapolis by about 150 miles, and landed over an hour late.

Well, at first they said that they had a “heated discussion,” and now they have provided further detail, saying that, “they became distracted during an extended discussion of crew scheduling that included their use of personal laptops.”

Seriously, this is nuts. They were out of contact with ATC for over an hour and missed Minneapolis by 150 miles.

This is not a discussion of “crew scheduling”.

Maybe one of them is sleeping with the other’s wife, maybe they are sleeping with each other, or maybe they were playing a MMORPG like World of Warcraft, or doing a Doom death match over a null modem cable.

It could also be that they just dozed off, the airlines are doing their best to work these guys to death…But a “heated discussion of crew scheduling”?

Yeah, and my dog ate my homework.