F-16C mishap update Posted 6/30/2011 Updated 6/30/2011Email storyPrint story Release Number: 110604 6/30/2011 - NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- U.S. Air Force officials here announced today that search and rescue teams have found conclusive evidence the pilot of an F-16C Fighting Falcon, which crashed approximately 5:30 p.m. June 28, did not survive.
At the time of the accident, the single-seat F-16 based at Nellis Air Force Base, was participating in a combat training mission within military operating airspace managed by The Nevada Test and Training Range. It crashed on Bureau of Land Management property approximately 20 miles west of Caliente, Nev.
"Based on evidence recovered from the crash site, and after extensive aerial and ground search efforts, we know that the pilot did not eject from the aircraft prior to impact," said Brig. Gen. T.J. O'Shaughnessy, 57th Wing commander. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the pilot's immediate family, Air Force family, and friends during this difficult time."
The name and unit of the pilot involved is being withheld pending notification of the next-of-kin.
"We have started an investigation into this mishap; but we are in the very early stages of this investigation," General O'Shaughnessy continued. "For the next several weeks, a trained investigation board will focus their exclusive efforts on collecting and protecting evidence from the scene and gathering and analyzing all relevant data with the specific purpose of determining the cause so we may prevent future mishaps. Nellis Air Force Base is the busiest flying base in Air Combat Command, producing 42,000 sorties each year. As commander of this wing, the safety of the local community and our Airmen is my top priority."
Additional details will be released as they become available. Nellis Air Force Base will not release the name or unit of the pilot involved in the mishap until 24 hours after notification of next-of-kin is complete.
Photos
An F-16 Fighting Falcon Aggressor flies over the Nevada Test and Training Range Oct. 19, 2009. U.S. Air Force officials at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., announced June 30 that search and rescue teams have found conclusive evidence the pilot of an F-16C Fighting Falcon, which crashed approximately 5:30 p.m. June 28, did not survive. The Air Force has started an investigation into this mishap and for the next several weeks, a trained investigation board will focus their exclusive efforts on collecting and protecting evidence from the scene and gathering and analyzing all relevant data with the specific purpose of determining the cause so we may prevent future mishaps. Nellis Air Force Base is the busiest flying base in Air Combat Command, producing 42,000 sorties each year.
A Plane That Flies Entirely on Solar Power 6/21/2011 4:41:59 PM
The Solar Impulse flew from Brussels to Paris fueled entirely by sun power. It soars through the night and bad weather using stored energy. WSJ's Thomas DiFonzo reports from the Paris Air Show. Photo courtesy Solar Impulse.
PARIS: PICTURE - Hypermach takes wraps off SonicStar SSBJ
An era of unprecedented travel times linking New York to Paris in under 2h and New York to Sydney in 5h could become reality within the next decade, says supersonic business jet developerHyperMach Europe.
At the show this morning the UK-headquartered company unveiled its 20-seat SonicStar concept, which it says is designed to fly at Mach 3.5 with no sonic boom overland.
“We will fly at twice the speed of Concorde, so that the other side of the world feels like it’s just down the road,” said Richard Lugg, Hypermach chief executive and chief scientist.
Lugg – a military aircraft designer, engineer and self-confessed Concorde enthusiast – said HyperMach is driven by a mission to change air transport. “With an eye to the future, but feet firmly rooted in solid scientific research, the development of SonicStar makes what was previously impossible – reality.”
The SonicStar’s 54,700lb-thrust (245kN) class S-Magjet 4000X propulsion system has been under development for six years. It is at least 30% more fuel efficient than the Rolls-Royce Olympus 593 engine that powered Concorde, said Lugg, and gives a 20% higher thrust-to-weight ratio. “This will be the first hybrid engine to offer a highly efficient, supersonic, variable bypass fan ratio engine design,” he added.
The engine operates electrically by generating large quantities of onboard electric power through its superconducting turbine ring generator technology. Power generation and thrust comes from the five-stage, superconducting axial turbine that allows the SonicStar to reach a height of 62,000ft (18,900m) at M3.5.
The engine will be developed in the UK by sister company SonicBlue, with an unnamed manufacturing partner and with the support of the UK government. HyperMach is also holding discussions with other potential manufacturing and funding partners to help bring the aircraft to market.
First flight of the SonicStar is set for June 2021, but Lugg would not be drawn on a certification timeframe. The market for the $80 million-plus aircraft is “in the thousands”, he added, with demand expected to come from the VVIP travel and cargo sectors.
Maynard Hill, who set 25 aviation records and whom the Washington Post called a "virtuoso of balsa and glue," died June 7 at his home in Silver Spring, Md. Hill was a legend in the remote control model aircraft world and his exploits included some remarkable records. He flew an RC model to 26,990 feet and one of his aircraft was clocked at 151 mph. As a metallurgist at Johns Hopkins University's applied physics lab, his work with RC models became the foundation of the development of unmanned aerial aircraft. Of all his records, however, it was the trans-Atlantic crossing of his Spirit of Butt's Farm that attracted the most attention.
The aircraft could weigh no more than 11 pounds, including fuel, to be considered a model so the design challenges were enormous. Hill and a group of engineers and computer programmers who were intrigued by the project built 29 versions of the model, which was powered by a four-stroke engine that used just two ounces of camp stove fuel per hour. After numerous failures and delays, the aircraft took off from Cape Spear, Newfoundland and Labrador in August of 2003 and landed 38 hours later in Ireland. Hill was 85 years old.
Terrafugia, the Woburn, Mass., company building a roadable aircraft, has indicated the first test flight of its production prototype called Transition should not be expected prior to March 2012. The earliest delivery date is now late 2012.
The company’s proposed flight demonstration at EAA AirVenture 2011 has been postponed, but the company hopes to have the vehicle on static display. It will also provide information on progress so far. The flight had been highly anticipated.
“We have encountered a number of the challenges that are common in aircraft development programs, including problems with third party suppliers,” said CEO Carl Dietrich. “The good news is that our team has done a fantastic job of minimizing the impact of these problems, and we continue to work through the issues. However, we have been forced to adjust our expected roll-out schedule in light of these challenges.”
The company displayed a proof-of-concept vehicle at Oshkosh in 2008. The vehicle presents a difficult engineering problem; it must meet highway crashworthiness standards and yet be light enough to fly. It will be flown under light sport aircraft rules.
Dietrich noted much progress has been made. The company has a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and has attracted new investment that allowed the staff to double from 12 to 24.
A Goodyear A-60+ blimp caught fire in Germany on Sunday evening as the pilot tried to land; the three passengers were able to leap to safety, but the pilot was killed. Witnesses said they heard a loud engine noise and smelled fuel as the blimp hovered about six feet above the ground at Reichelsheim Airfield, according toThe Sun. The pilot, Mike Nerandzic, 53, of Australia, yelled at the passengers to leap out of the cabin. As they left the aircraft, it shot up into the air about 150 feet and exploded, then crashed into a field where it was consumed by flames, according to online news reports. The passengers were reporters for local news outlets on a photo-taking flight.
The aircraft is one of two owned and operated by Lightship Europe Limited and leased to Goodyear. The second blimp has been withdrawn from service until further notice, the company said in a statement. A former colleague, who declined to be named, told The Telegraph that Nerandzic was a skilled pilot. "He always put other people first," the colleague said. "I don't think he would even have realized he was doing it -- it would have just been instinct. He will be a real loss to our community." The cause of the accident is under investigation. "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the crew member, and also with our colleagues and the passengers involved with the airship tour in Germany," Goodyear said. The company had recently announced that it will be replacing its famous blimps with zeppelins starting in 2014. The photo is from Germany's BILD video report.
A World War II plane that welcomed passengers in Des Moines last week was destroyed by fire after an emergency landing on Monday, June 13.
The B-17 Bomber made the landing in a cornfield outside Chicago then burst into flames.
All seven people on board escaped without injury. The cause of the crash and emergency landing is still under investigation.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
ESA lifting body entry vehicle on the cusp of final approval BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: June 10, 2011 PARIS -- The European Space Agency should formally approve this summer the construction of an Italian-led demonstrator that will launch into space on a rocket, fly back to Earth like an airplane and parachute into the Pacific Ocean, according to the mission's project manager. Artist's concept of the Intermediate Experimental Vehicle plunging back to Earth throught the atmosphere. Credit: ESA
The Intermediate Experimental Vehicle is on track to blast off on a Vega rocket in late 2013, speed around the Earth at a peak altitude of nearly 300 miles, then drop from space and fly back to Earth with the help of aerodynamic flaps and a parachute. Giorgio Tumino, the IXV project manager at ESA, said the craft passed its final critical design review in May. Senior ESA officials are now firming up the spacecraft's cost before signing a contract with Thales Alenia Space of Italy to build the vehicle. Formal approval for the contract signature should come from an industry planning committee meeting at the end of June, Tumino said in an interview. "We are in quite an advanced stage of the program," Tumino said. "It's not paper, but it's reality. There is an internal European process for the approval of all the activities. We should be able to sign the actual contract by the end of this month." Sandrine Bielecki, a Thales spokesperson, said the company signed an agreement to be the IXV's prime contractor in 2009. Individual contracts for design work and hardware production are handled separately. After ESA and Thales sign a final production contract, there is a 27-month schedule planned to manufacture parts, build the spacecraft and test it before shipping the vehicle to the launch site in Kourou French Guiana. The total cost of the mission is about 100 million euros, or about $143 million. ESA has the money to build the spacecraft, but funding for Vega launcher will only come at the agency's next meeting of member states' ministers in late 2012. If ESA signs a launch contract then, IXV could be ready to fly in the fourth quarter of 2013, Tumino said. "The objective now is to place the contract, build the vehicle and qualify it, then have it ready to be shipped to Kourou," Tumino said. "We really are now going to procure the contract for all the pieces necessary to run the mission. Now what we are missing at the next Ministerial [Council] is only the Vega launcher. We'll have all the pieces there to meet the launcher." Construction should begin in September, according to Tumino. The IXV program is emerging from a reorganization at the last Ministerial Council meeting in 2008. Italy increased their financial commitment to the project, and Thales Alenia Space of Italy was appointed prime contractor. An industrial consortium of EADS Astrium and Finmeccanica previously held the position. The reorganization "induced some delays" as Thales Alenia Space got up to speed on the program, but now the IXV is ready to enter the production phase, according to Tumino. Its mission will last just a few hours, but the IXV is a big step for Europe. The demo flight will not go into orbit, but the craft is a prototype for future vehicles that could service the International Space Station, land on other planets, or carry people to orbit. The IXV mission builds on years of ESA development, including the Hermes space plane program shelved by Europe in 1992. Hermes was supposed to be Europe's version of the space shuttle, conceived as a mostly reusable ship able to carry people back forth to orbit. Artist's concept of ESA's Hermes space plane. Credit: ESA
But no Hermes shuttle was ever built despite considerable technological developments in the program. ESA's atmospheric re-entry demonstrator mission in 1998 proved out the Hermes flight control algorithms, but the IXV will fly with more a more advanced heat shield and working aerosurfaces. And it's shaped more like Hermes. The mission also recycles ESA's research for the NASA-led X-38 crew return vehicle, a lifeboat for the space station that was scrapped in the last decade. The IXV will fly with approximately 28 advanced ceramic heat shield tiles on its belly, while white ablative material will insulate the top of the vehicle during entry. With no wings and a peculiar blunt cigar shape, the IXV won't land on a runway like the space shuttle. Instead, the 16-foot-long ship will gently fall into the Pacific Ocean under a parachute, where it will be retrieved by the Italian Navy or a commercial vessel. There is no landing gear. But even without wings, the IXV is shaped as a lifting body, meaning it can maneuver in the atmosphere through a series of roll reversals. Movements of two electromechanical body flaps at the rear of the vehicle will steer the IXV during entry. It has a lift-over-drag radio of 0.7, giving the IXV "more controllability during flight, more maneuverability, and eventually a precision landing," Tumino said. The craft's shape means it flies through the atmosphere instead of falling like a capsule. Engineers are targeting an error ellipse of about 3 miles on the IXV mission, but follow-on vehicles could land with even more precision. "This is a demonstration mission. We will be launching from Kourou with a Vega launcher, and we have a set of ground segment stations which will support the mission," Tumino said. "Where the vehicle meets the atmosphere, the conditions will be equivalent to a return mission from low Earth orbit, so basically a 7.5 kilometers per second [16,777 mph] entry speed, so that we can experience all the key environmental features of such a re-entry mission." The craft's nose will pitch up 40 degrees during re-entry, and it will bleed off speed in a series of roll maneuvers like the space shuttle. Once officials wrap up contract negotiations this summer, some of their attention will turn to studying applications for the technology to be tested by the IXV. Tumino said the analysis will help prepare a proposal to ESA member states for the continuation of the program after the 2013 demo flight. "We see opportunities and the possibility to go into orbit and perform ground landings, so to have a retrievable and reusable system," Tumino said. "It's not the space shuttle, which has a huge cost because it's a huge system. It would have to be contained in cost so it would be affordable for Europe to pursue."
2nd Lt. Jacob Hempen exits the T-6B Texan II he flew for his solo flight. It was the first solo for Training Squadron 6 in the T-6B Texan II as the squadron transitions to the plane from the older T-34 Turbo Mentor. / Navy photo by Ensign Jenna Bordash
A flight training squadron at Whiting Field recently soloed its first student pilot in the base’s new T-6B Texan II training aircraft.
Flight student 2nd Lt. Jacob Hempen successfully flew a short “solo” flight in a Texan II on Monday, marking the first time a Training Squadron 6 student flew the aircraft without an instructor onboard.
“We’ve come a long way from the start of the program,” Cmdr. David Humphreys, Training Wing 5 standardization officer said.
The T-6B Texan II is replacing the T-34 Turbo Mentor, which served as Whiting's primary flight trainer for more than 30 years. The T-6B is faster, stronger and more efficient than the T-34. It features an updated cockpit with modern avionics, air conditioning and an ejection seat.
Training Squadron 6 is the second squadron at Whiting Field to successfully solo a student in a Texan II. Training Squadron 3 completed the transition to the Texan II in 2010.
Email story Print story 
A Goodyear A-60+ blimp caught fire in Germany on Sunday evening as the pilot tried to land; the three passengers were able to leap to safety, but the pilot was killed. Witnesses said they heard a loud engine noise and smelled fuel as the blimp hovered about six feet above the ground at Reichelsheim Airfield, according toThe Sun. The pilot, Mike Nerandzic, 53, of Australia, yelled at the passengers to leap out of the cabin. As they left the aircraft, it shot up into the air about 150 feet and exploded, then crashed into a field where it was consumed by flames, according to online news reports. The passengers were reporters for local news outlets on a photo-taking flight.
Email this article
