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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0122.PDF
F-18E/F sea trials ready to begin INITIAL SEA TRIALS of the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) F-18E/F are scheduled to begin on 17 January'. The trials will take place on the Navy's latest aircraft carrier, the USS Stennis, and will involve a series of arrested landings and cat apult take-offs with the first two- seat development aircraft, the Fl. By early January, aircraft Fl was still the only F-18E/F to have been returned to flight-testing follow ing the precautionary grounding in November 1996, caused by com pressor-blade cracking in die Gen eral Electric F414 engines. Ashortage of repaired engines is slowing the return of aircraft to flight status, but MDC says that all seven development F-18E/Fs should be in flight-testing by the end of this month. • See feature, P29. NEWS IN BRIEF • RAAF PICKS THOMSON Thomson-CSF has won a contract to expand and improve the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) radar sites in Queensland and New South Wales. Its Airsys sub sidiary, Thomson Radar Australia, will supply three interim radar display systems to supplement the existing Thomson-supplied equip ment, pending completion of the forthcoming Australian Air Defence System at the end of 1997. • M88-2 DELIVERED French engine manufacturer Snecma has delivered the first series-production M88- 2 engine destined to power the multi-role Dassault Ra fale . The company says that it has orders for a further four engines during 1997, which will be supplied as part of the current 42-engine order- book. Testing of the M88 continues, with the 22 test engines clocking up a total of 12,666h of running time, 4,424 of which were in flight. Antonov modifies An-70 controls ALEXANDER VELOVICH/MOSCOW ANTONOV HAS modified the flight-control system on its An-70 propfan military trans port, as a result of the fatal crash of the first aircraft. The second proto type was rolled out at the end of December 1996 Piotr Balabuyev, Antonov gen eral designer, says mat some of the safety-critical elements of the flight-control system which were fin-mounted in the first prototype have been relocated. The chase air craft, an An-72 Coaler, collided with the first prototype's vertical stabiliser in February 1995. After the crash, Antonov used the second airframe —in manufac ture for its originally intended use as the ground-test fatigue rig—for the second prototype. The aircraft could be flown in March. The programme, which had its genesis in the former Soviet Union December dubntante: Antonov's hopes are riding on the An-70 as a replacement for the Antonov An-12 Cub, has been hit by fund ing difficulties. Russia and Ukraine agreed to support the programme, with the former providing 80% of the financing and the latter 20%. The Russian air force appears to remain interested in the pro gramme, with Yuriy Klishin, the deputy commander-in-chief for acquisition, in attendance at the roll-out ceremony. This interest, however, has not translated into adequate financing. Antonov has been investing its own money in the programme. This has been gained mostly by operating die An-124 Ruslan heavy cargo air craft on the international commer cial market. • DarkStar flight tests will be resumed in mid-year FLIGHT TESTING of the stealthy Lockheed Martin/ Boeing DarkStar long-endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) will resume in the second or third quar ter of 1997, once the second proto type is completed. Two further DarkStar systems, including two UAVs and associated payloads, are also being built. They will be delivered in the middle of 1998 for user demonstrations. The revised Tier III Minus ad vanced-concept-technology-de monstration (ACTD) programme plan results from the review of the crash of the first DarkStar proto type in April 1996. It was determined that the UAV loss was caused by changes made in flight-control software and take off technique between the first and second flights. The DarkStar prototype was extensively damaged after it pitched up, stalled and crashed moments after taking off from a runway at Edwards AFB, Cali fornia, on its second test flight. The UAV was first flown on a successful 20min initial test flight on 29 March, 1996. The accident was blamed on "deficiencies in the modelling and simulation of the flight vehicle", says the US Department of De fense (DoD). The contractors have since revised the simulations to model more accurately the expect ed flight characteristics in all the flight regimes. Subsequently, the ACTD was DarkStar should get back into the air in the second or third quarter of1997 extended from 24 months to 31 months. Fabrication of the third DarkStar has been accelerated. It will be used for ground tests and as the back-up flight-test airframe. The DarkStar air-vehicle 4 con struction will remain on its current schedule.The DoD has yet to spec ify how many operational Dark- Stars would be deployed. • The first flight of the Alliant Techsystems Outrider tactical UAV might take place in the sec ond half of this month, according to the Pentagon's UAV Joint Pro gramme Office. The initial test flight had been set for November 1996, but it was delayed because programme offi cials were not certain that a safe flight could be conducted. It was determined that additional risk- mitigation efforts were required to ensure a safe first flight. The risk-reduction work includ ed windtunnel tests on a scaled air- vehicle model, antenna testing, and additional tests to evaluate dynam ic systems and flight parameters. The windtunnel data have shown that the wings are producing less lift than originally predicted. • 16 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 15 - 21 January 1997
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