Category: Aviation

KC-X Tanker Contest Canceled

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Looks like SecDef Bob Gates is dumping this one on the next administration.

I can’t say I blame him. The Airbus is a better aircraft, more modern and with greater fuel offload capacity, and it’s already flying, whereas the Boeing Frankenplane, cobbled together out of 3 different 767 models, has stronger pork barrel congressional support.

A delay might move Boeing to submit a shortened 777 as a bid, which would be more competitive, but the 787 is out, if just because they are so far behind schedule that they would not be able to begin deliveries until some time around 2020.

It might also have something to do with the strike, which obviously makes Boeing hitting any delivery, for any customers, which would give the delegation from Washington State more of an opportunity to whine.

Neat Tech: Coanda Effect Aircraft

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In the UK, a company called GFS (which stands for — I kid you not — Geoff’s Flying Saucer), has been flying a small UAV, and expects it to be able to fly autonomously by years end.

The technology is pretty neat, it uses the Coandă effect, the tendency of a fluid to follow a surface, to generate lift.

The UAV is small, Max TOW is 18.5 kilos, but it does show one advantage over a conventional lift propeller, greater volumetric efficiency, because there is no big honking hole down the center of mass for the air.

Additionally, by tailoring the vanes on the body, you can eliminate torque issues, meaning that you have a single prop, rather than two counter rotating, which is smaller and lighter.

Additionally, they are looking at other applications, starting with a small manned vehicle:

Sikorsky’s ABC Helo Flies

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And earlier than expected, reports were that it wasn’t to leave the ground until sometime in 2009.

In any case, it made a 30 minute test flight (also see here).

This was a fairly conservative flight, basic maneuvering with the tail propulsor shut down, as can be seen in the pics.

They plan to expand the envelope to a speed of 250kts, and then make a decision as to whether to manufacture helos with the technology.

Boeing Drags Its Heels on Air Force Bid – Seeking Alpha

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Well, it’s now clear that Boeing wants a 6 monthextension on the bidding process. It’s clear to them that a simplw resubmit would put them at a disadvantage, so they are looking at making significant modificiation, something like moving to the 767-400, or 777.

Usurprisingly, Northrop-Grumman thinks that any extension is a bad idea.

The request puts the USAF between a rock and a hard place, as it would push the program into the next administration, which is likely to make significant cuts in military procurement.

Meanwhile, Stephen Trimble notes that a delay might have some real benefits for Northrop Grumman too. The KC-30 bid was based on the Airbus A330-200 passenger airliner, but since the bid was made, airbus has flown an A330-200 freighter, which would be a bit better airframe for the role.

Additionally, it looks like that A330-200F would be able to use the GE GEnx-2B engine, which promises double digit percentage increase in fuel economy.

Northrop declines to rule out platform switch for new KC-X bid

Tanker questions: GEnx upgrade for KC-30? KC-747 vs KC-A380? – The DEW Line

And the Wild Blue Yonder Boys Screw Up in Afghanistan

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Karzai just condemned a USAF led airstrike in Afghanistan and fired two commanders in the region.

A representative of the Karzai administration nails it:

“This puts us in a very difficult position,” said a government official, who asked not to be identified because of the delicacy of the matter. “It provides propaganda to the Taliban, and if they don’t take responsibility, it actually helps the Taliban.”

Of course, even when coalition troops engaging in a training exercise are targeted by pilots hopped up on amphetamines, or a pilot joy riding below altitude minimums kills 20 people in a cable car, there is at best a slap on the wrist (note that the latter were Marines, not USAF).

The three US air services need to stop behaving in a way that aids the insurgents.

Boeing Goes a la Carte on C-17B

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Boeing has proposed a whole series of upgrades to create a C-17B, in a desperate attempt to keep the line open, and they are going to offer them on an individual basis.

The upgrades are:

  • Upgraded engines.
  • Doubled slotted flaps.
  • Additional tires on the main landing gear.
  • A central tire inflation system.
  • Improved avionics.
  • An electronic warefare system.

They are offering them individually for two reasons, some of them could also be sold as simple upgrades to the existing fleet, and because all together, they might be considered a new development program, which means that the groundlings at the Pentagon would have to spend a few years writing up specifications.

At its core, of course, this effort is really about keeping the line open as quietly as possible.

A380 Separation Distance Reduced

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One of the concerns about the A380 is that it is a large plane, and wingtip vortices grow as an aircraft does, so separation standard was established to prevent trailing aircraft from being destabilized by the these phenomena.

Airbus thought the standard was was excessive, and following tests, the standards have been relaxed, from, “6nm separation for a heavy aircraft such as the 747, 8nm for medium or small aircraft in the A320 category and 10 nm for light category aircraft,” to 4nm, 5nm, and 6nm, the same as a Boeing 747.

UK Looking at Rolling Landing to Address JSF Performance Shortfalls

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Basically, the F-35B STOVL appears to be a bit light in bring back weight, so the Royal Navy is looking at landing at slow speed,shipboard rolling vertical landing (SRVL).

The aircraft would land at an air speed of somewhere around 60 kt airspeed (the ship would be doing 25 kts, so the deck speed would be 35 kts) to allow for an additional ton or so of fuel or ordinance brought back at landing.

Georgia Update

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Russia says that it is pulling troops out of Georgia, though Pentagon sources are disputing this.

My guess is that there is a withdrawal going on, the Russians don’t want to deal with an insurgency, but that it is proceeding with all deliberate slowness.

Aviation Week has analysis of the relative success of Georgian air defense systems (Paid Subscription Required), specifically of the SU Tu-22M3, and suggest that it was shot down because of Israeli aid in upgrading the Soviet era air defense systems.

Additionally, they note that the Georgian air defense system was less sophisticated, less networked, and less automated than the Syrian one, and as such, it may have been less vulnerable to the cyber attacks that were allegedly used by the Israelis when they struck the Syrian reactor complex.

Shades of Battlestar Galactica, the new one, not the old one.

As to the Su-25 losses, they suggest that these were shoulder launched SAMs, and I agree, as the Su-25 is really a close air support aircraft, which puts them in the sweet spot of such weapons.

Japan’s C-X Delayed

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The CX is Japan’s indigenously designed replacement for their Kawasaki C-1 and Lockheed Martin C-130H transports, and it appears to be in serious trouble.

Normally, when a Japanese program is delayed, it’s politics and budget, but the CX prototype has significant technical problems, weakness in the horizontal stabilizer and cracks in the landing gear, in addition to a bribery scandal with regards to the engine selection.

Boeing Looking to Significantly Modify Tanker Bid

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Well, this is a breath of unexpected common sense.

Basically, they are currently looking at replacing their original bid with a 777 derivative, or replacing their current bid, a 767-200ERX, with a 767-400 derivative.

The latter would be less involved, but it would also have tail strike issues, and so would likely have less rotation angle and require a longer takeoff run.

If Boeing asks for more time for this, and my guess is that they would, it is likely that they would get the time requested, which means that the final decision would be pushed into the next administration.