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Aviation History
1993
1993 - 0013.PDF
DEFENCE NASA/USAF plan P&W nozzle tests on F-15B BY GRAHAM WARWICK IN ATLANTA NASA and the US Air Force are to flight-test Pratt & Whitney pitch/yaw-vectoring en gine nozzles on a McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, starting in September 1994. The USAF already plans to fly a General Electric axisymmetric- vectoring exhaust nozzle on a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, beginning in May 1993. The F-15B, which is used to flight-test Pratt & Whitney's two-dimensional (2D) pitch- only thrust-vectoring nozzles, will be modified for the NASA/ USAF aerodynamic-control- technology integration vehicle (ACTIVE) research effort, says P&W programme manager Roger Bursey. Only minor struc tural modifications will be nee- Fifth production C-17 first flight imminent The fifth production McDonnell Douglas (MDC) C-17 (P-5) is ex pected to make its first flight shortly, before delivery to the US Naval Air Test Center at Patuxent River, Maryland, where the aircraft is sched uled to undergo lightning- strike and electromagnetic- interference testing. Work on aircraft P-14 has begun and MDC says that "...efficiencies in production have resulted in a 17% reduc tion in the cost of quality on each succeeding aircraft". The P-6, which is now 80% complete at MDC's Long Beach assembly line, will be the first C-17 to be delivered directly to an operational unit — the 437th Air Wing at Charleston AFB, South Caro lina — when it flies to the base in May. • essary, according to Bursey. P&W ground-tested the pitch/ yaw balanced-beam nozzle on an F100-229 in 1992, vectoring thrust exceeding 134kN (30,0001b) by up to 20°, through a full 360°, and producing 17.8kN of force normal to the engine centreline. The nozzle "...operated flawlessly" and "...looked superb" after disman tling, says Bursey. The company will build two flight-demonstrator nozzles, which will be ground-tested in mid-1994. These will be able to vector thrust at up to 807s, compared with 45°/s for the ground-test unit, Bursey says. Other changes will be limited to repackaging the divergent- section actuators to fit in the aircraft, he says. The F-15 short take-off and landing/manoeuvre-technology demonstrator (SMTD), now minus its 2D nozzles, will be flown to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center early in 1993 for flight tests with conventional engine exhausts to determine the baseline performance. This will allow changes resulting from use of pitch/yaw vectoring to be measured, Bursey says. Pratt & Whitney used a repro- grammed nozzle controller from the F-15 SMTD to conduct its ground tests of the pitch/yaw- vectoring nozzle and Bursey says that the same units will be used for flight testing. Nozzle opera tion in response to commands from the flight-control comput ers will be "100% transparent" to the pilot, he says. GE will deliver its axisymmet- ric vectoring engine nozzle (AVEN) to GD early in 1993 for installation in the F-16 variable- stability inflight simulator test aircraft (VISTA) for the 60h multi-axis thrust-vectoring flight-test programme. The com pany ground-tested the AVEN early in 1992 on an Fl 10-129 and completed a second series of ground runs in December on the -100 engine, which powers the VISTA F-16. • Italy might upgrade its G.222s after a loss in Bosnia Italy wants four more C-130 Hercules The Italian air force is plan ning to acquire four addi tional Lockheed C-130 Hercules to add to its fleet of 12 aircraft, subject to funding availability. Italy is also retrofitting its exist ing Hercules with new wings, to extend their service lives. In the wake of the shooting down of an air force Alenia G.222 transport in Bosnia in 1992, Italy has speeded up a programme to give its transport fleet an element of self-defence. A C-130 is being used to test the compatibility of a suite of defen sive aids with the aircraft's avi onics. The suite includes a radar-warning receiver and chaff- and flare-dispensers. In addition, a new radar and navigation suite is being consid ered for the G.222. The air force will also decide during the next few months on the extent of an upgrade for its Lockheed F-104 Starfighter fleet. Some 44 of the 143 aircraft are in the fighter-bomber configura tion and are scheduled to be phased out in the next few years. The remaining interceptors are to be provided with a serv ice-life extension, including new wings, partial re-wiring and a new inertial-navigation system, to stretch life until the Euro- fighter 2000 becomes available in the year 2000. Two aircraft are at Alenia, pending a decision to proceed with the programme, before pro totype work starts, probably later this year. The air force says that it remains committed to taking 130 Eurofighters, although it concedes that the possibility of cutting numbers has been considered in recent months. D NEWS IN BRIEF TURKISH RADAR The Turkish ministry of de fence has signed an $8 million contract with Aydin of the USA to complete Phase III of the automation, control and system integration of NATO radars in Turkey. Bids received from Hughes and General Electric were rejected. Phases I and II of the radar programme were completed by Hughes in 1991. The new work will be under taken jointly by Aydin and its sister company, Aydin-Aymet. Completion is expected by the first half of 1994. JAPANESE CUTS Japan plans to raise defence spending by just 1.7% in 1993, the smallest increase for 33 years. The ¥4.63 trillion ($37 billion) budget includes provi sion for four McDonnell Douglas F-15s and two air borne early-warning Boeing 767s. Japan has cut its ¥22.75 trillion 1991-6 defence build up programme by ¥580 billion. TOW ORDER The Spanish army is to buy 2,000 TOW anti-tank missiles and 200 launchers from Gyconsa, a joint venture be tween Hughes Aircraft and Spain's state-owned Inisel. Gyconsa also will study the feasibility of developing a new medium-range anti-tank mis sile in Spain. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 6 - 12 January, 1993 11
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