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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 0165.PDF
DARPA funds development of personal flying machine RAMON LOPEZ/WASHINGTON DC MILLENNIUM JET has received $5 million from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop for die US military a pro totype one-man vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) air vehicle for flight testing. The funding will support Millennium Jet's development of the SoloTrek XFV Exo-Skeletor Flying Vehicle for military and civil markets. Although the contract represents the first government research funding, NASA last year provided technical support for ini tial windtunnel testing at the Ames Research Center, California. DARPA's award is the first under its Exoskeleton for Human Performance Augmentation pro gramme. Additional contracts are planned to investigate technolo gies drat could enhance the mobil ity, strength or endurance of soldiers on the battlefield. The SoloTrek, the military's solo aircraft company believes its first cus tomers will be the armed forces, but non-military applications are expected to follow. Michael Moshier, the firm's founder and chief executive, says die strap-on ultra-compact aircraft will be able to hover for up to 3 h, fly atup to70kt(130km/h) and cover 15 Onm (2 7 8km). It will be powered by a four-cylinder piston engine driving two counter-rotating duct ed fans. Moshier says a SoloTrek ducted fan completed a series of NASA windtunnel tests in November. High-power static thrust tests are due early diis year during which a tethered, instrumented prototype will be used to confirm that die ducted fans produce the required thrust smoothly at the predicted engine power. It will also prove die powertrain, including gearbox cooling and control forces. If successful, tediered hovering will follow around June and free hover tests before the year's end. Millennium Jet plans to deliver a prototype to US special forces for testing in about three years but does not know what a production model might cost. Civil certification issues have not been addressed. Millennium Jet is seeking NASA funding for a larger, passenger car rying DuoTrek development. • X-32B moves closer to first vertical flight tests ENGINEERS working on Boeing'sX-32B STOVL Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstra tor aircraft have moved closer to a planned first flight in late March by completing engine runs and starting low and medium speed tests at Palmdale, California on 10 January. Boeing's leading short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) test pilot Dennis O'Donoghue says die higher-powered X-32B aircraft handled "just like the X-32 A", dur ing the taxi tests which covered speeds up to 60kt (1 lOkm/h). The X-32B is fitted with the Pratt & Whitney JSF119-614 variant which is reputedly capable of thrust in excess of 40,0001b (180kN). Pratt &HVhitney, meanwhile, completed accelerated mission testing of the^-614 engine at its West Palm Beach site in Florida Boeing has taxi-tested the X-32B and is a short hop away from first flight earlier in die same week. The critical milestone is a pre requisite for first flight; and this involved running the engine through two simulated X-32B flight test profiles. The engine is now being stripped down and inspected before the formal all-clear is given for die start of flight tests to vali date basic air-worthiness before attempting STOVL transition testing at altitude. Following clearance of die basic envelope and confirmation of STOVL transition ability, die X-32B will be flown to the US Navy's test site at Patuxent River, Maryland to continue tests. These will include vertical landings. • Airborne laser needs $38m to stay on plan THE US Air Force is seeking Congressional approval to reprogramme S3 8 million of funds for fiscal year 2001 to keep the Airborne Laser (ABL) project on track for a live-fire demonstration in 2003. In addition, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and TRW, the ABL contractors, will each contribute $20 million this year widi the expectation that the USAF will reimbursethemin2002. The move is needed to cover contractor tasks that must be per formed now, but which are budget ed for in later years. The money will also cover unforeseen techni cal issues arising in the on-going development phase involving laser and beam control development and airworthiness testing. Col Ellen Pawlikowski, ABL programme director, acknowl edges that the project has seen technical challenges, but she says there are no "show-stoppers". She says the ABL programme will be delayed 15 to 20 months if the money is not reprogrammed. Last year, the White House cut die ABL'S proposed FY01 funding by $92 million. Congress, however, restored $85 million, boosting die budget to $2 34 million. The ABL is in a $ 1.1 billion pro gramme definition and risk reduc tion phase. Boeing is responsible for the aircraft, TRW is building the chemical oxygen-iodine laser and Lockheed Martin is working on the optical system. A Boeing 747-400, being converted to a YAL-1A ABL prototype, is about 60% through its modification. It is set to be rolled out this October with first flight with a laser turret scheduled for February 2002, says Pawlikowski. It will be tested against theatre ballistic missiles targets beginning in September 2003. The initial intercept test would have been delayed by two years had Congress not restored the $85 million. Successful flight testing would lead to a 30-month engineering and manufacturing development phase, beginning in early 2004. Three aircraft could be operational by late 2007 followed by four oth ers two years later. Q FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 16 - 22 January 2001 15
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