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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 3366.PDF
HEADLINES DEFENCE PETER LA FRANCHI / CANBERRA RAAF studies surveillance options With Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft running ahead of schedule, Australia considers extra aircraft and UAV purchases The Royal Australian Air Force is expecting the first flight of the Boeing 737-7001GW-based Wedge tail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft by the first quarter of 2004 - and possibly earlier, with the project running an average six months ahead of sched ule in most areas. The Australian Department of Defence is simultaneously finalising an airborne surveillance study examining whether options for two plus an additional aircraft should be exercised. A decision is required for the first two options by next June. As well as additional Wedgetails, DEFENCE USMC opens MV-22 centre The US Marine Corps is over hauling its simulator based training, starting with opening a Bell, Boeing and FlightSafety International MV-22B Osprey centre that establishes the foun dation for a networked training system for fixed- and rotary-wing types at different bases and potentially with other services. Unlike earlier USMC simula tors, the full-motion flight simulators (FFS) are the equiva lent of commercial Level D systems and contain a high level of commercial-off-the-shelf tech nology. They will be capable of covering more than 50% of pilot training requirements compared to less than 10% on current sim ulators and will also be used to develop operational tactics, tech niques and procedures. The new FFS and fixed train ing devices also introduce a common visual database for all USMC simulators. "This is a blueprint for Marine Corps avia tion. We've a lot of other programmes watching what we do. The [Bell] H-1 programme is right behind us looking to do the exact same thing," says Lt Col Ken Fransher, V-22 training programme manager. the study is examining options to integrate Australia's planned pur chase of Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned air vehi cles into a common wide area archi tecture. This would allow operators aboard a Wedgetail to control the RQ-4's sensors and offers potential for the development of a joint ground-based command and con trol infrastructure for both aircraft. Boeing earlier this month rolled out the first two 737s for conver sion into Wedgetails, with modifi cations to begin in late March. Two other aircraft on order are due for production in late 2004/early 2005, Boeing has confirmed Air France is set to become the initial operator of the long-range 777-300ER, the first of which was rolled out at Everett, Washington, on 14 Nov ember. Meanwhile, 777 customer KLM has become launch customer for an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) developed by Boeing and Jeppesen. The first 777-300ER will be deliv ered to Air France in April 2004, seven months later than the date set at the start of the programme in 2000. Boeing says the delay is partly due to "changes to the delivery stream" and the decision to restruc ture the test programme around two aircraft instead of three. Boeing is planning around l,600h of flight tests and l,000h of ground tests on two aircraft, the second of which is scheduled to fly in mid-February. Aircraft with conversion to start in the sec ond half of 2005 and early 2006. Head of Australian airborne sur veillance acquisition projects AVM Norman Gray says aircraft software development is at build three with five iterations remaining before release for operational use. Two multirole electronically scanned array (MESA) radar sys tems have been built, says Northrop Grumman vice-president airborne surveillance systems Bill Adams. The first will go to Northrop Grumman's El Segundo facility for load testing, while a sec ond will undergo factory testing certification is set for December next year, with interior certification in the first quarter of 2004. Boeing says it still plans to restart the 777- 200LR programme in the second quarter of 2003. The -200LR, recently boosted with the Pakistan International Airlines order for two aircraft, was put on ice for 18 months in October 2001. PIA plans to take the first -200LR in January 2006. Orders for the long-range deriva tive family stand at 54 of a total 607 firm orders. Boeing plans to raise production on the 777 line in March from one every seven days to one every six days in response to delivery demands. Meanwhile, the EFB is expected to make its first flight by early February on the prototype 777- 300ER. Initial production EFBs will until March, after which it will be prepared for handover to Boeing in May. The first MESA-equipped 737 will fly in early 2004 and is due for delivery to the RAAF in 2006. Gray says that the airborne mis sion segment will undergo critical design review next month with this the final milestone before air craft conversion. Meanwhile, Northrop Grum man is hoping that Turkey will give a final endorsement early next month to proceed with its order for four 737AEW&CS. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY PAUL LEWIS IN WASHINGTON DC be delivered from October to KLM in the first of 10 777-200ERs on order. The EFB effectively replaces up to 35kg (771b) worth of aircraft manuals, and presents data to the crew on 265mm (lOin) diagonal liquid crystal displays. In addition to manuals, the EFB can display live weather information, NOTAMs, navigation charts, taxi situation maps, airport familiarisation maps and pictures, customer-specific applications and video surveillance of the cabin and approach area to the flight deck door. As well as improving runway sit uational awareness, the EFB includ es weight-and-balance and perfor mance calculators. Boeing and Jeppesen believe this function alone could increase the payload of a 777 taking off from a wet runway by up to 9,000kg. The aircraft will be delivered seven months late, partly due to the restructure of the test programme, says Boeing AIR TRANSPORT GUY NORRIS / EVERETT Air France set for first 777-300ER 6 19-25 NOVEMBER 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
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